JP2000268917A - Fitting detecting connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a fitting detecting connector compact. SOLUTION: A fitting detecting unit A comprising a slider 40 and a lock arm 30 is housed in a hood 22 of a male housing 20. The lock arm 30 is formed by cutting two stripes of cuts 29 in an upper wall 24b of an inner cylinder part 24 capable of fitting a female housing 10, the height position of the bottom surface 30a of a lock arm 30 can be made to coincide with the height position of the top surface 10a of the female housing 10, and the lower limit of the arranging height of the fitting detecting unit A can be lowered to the lowest position capable of fitting the female housing 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are the following methods for detecting whether or not a male and female connector housing is properly fitted. That is, a spring means is provided in one connector housing, and in the process of fitting the male and female connector housings, the spring means is gradually compressed, and the fitting operation is interrupted halfway. In such a case, the half-fitting is detected by repelling the connector housing outward by the elastic force of the spring means.

FIG. 10 schematically shows the structure of a connector having the above-described half-fitting detection function. The left side of FIG. 10 is a male connector, a hood portion is formed at the front portion, and a push piece provided on the female connector for pushing a spring means in the fitting detection unit is formed on the upper surface. ing. The female connector has a main body formed so as to be able to fit into the hood of the male connector, and has a fitting detection unit which has a built-in spring on its upper surface and is displaced by being pushed by the pushing piece. Note that this fitting detection unit includes a lock arm (an immovable portion) that elastically locks with the male connector at the time of regular fitting, and a movable portion that is displaced by a pushing piece. They are shown integrally for simplicity of explanation.

[0004]

In order to incorporate such a fitting detection unit, the female connector has an outer cylindrical portion formed on the upper surface of the main body. However, as described above, as shown in FIG.
The mating detection unit must be arranged to avoid interference with the hood of the male connector housing.
The height dimension of the female connector, and consequently the overall height of the connector in a state where the male and female are fitted, must be increased. This has been an obstacle to the recent demand for compactness. The present invention has been developed to meet such a demand, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fitting detection connector that can be made compact.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a female connector housing capable of accommodating a female terminal fitting and having a lock portion and a push-in projection provided at a front portion of an upper surface thereof. And a male connector housing in which a male terminal fitting can be accommodated and opened forward and a hood portion in which a female connector housing can be fitted is formed, and in the hood portion, both male and female connector housings are provided. A lock arm that engages with the lock portion in a properly fitted state to hold the male and female connector housings in a properly fitted state, and is arranged along the fitting direction of the male and female connector housings, and And a fitting means comprising a spring means compressed by the pushing protrusion is provided, and the height position of the lower surface of the fitting detecting unit is Characterized in place that is equal to the height position of the upper surface of the female connector housing when the connector housing is fitted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the spring means is incorporated in a slider movable in the fitting direction of the connector housing in the hood portion. When the lock arm is flexed and deformed in the process of getting over the lock portion, the spring means is retained in the original position while being compressed by engaging with the lock arm, and the male and female connector housings are normally fitted. When the lock arm returns and is locked to the lock portion, the lock arm is disengaged from the lock arm and can be moved rearward by the elastic force of the spring means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the slider and the lock arm are configured to allow the lock arm to flex until the connector housings are properly fitted. While the bending space of the lock arm is retained between the two, when the two connector housings are properly fitted and the slider retreats, a part of the slider enters the bending space. This is characterized in that the bending of the lock arm in the disengagement direction can be regulated.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the male and female connector housings are fitted, the pushing projection provided on the female connector housing compresses the spring means of the male connector housing during the fitting operation. Therefore, if the fitting operation is interrupted on the way, it is known that the male and female connector housings are displaced in directions away from each other due to the spring force of the spring means, whereby half-fitting was achieved.
In addition, if the connectors are properly fitted, the lock arms are locked to the lock portions, so that both connector housings are held in the fitted state. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fitting detection unit including the lock arm and the spring means is formed inside the male connector housing using the hood portion. For this reason, the dimension in the height direction can be reduced.

This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 10 showing a conventional structure, F is the height of a portion of the female connector housing that fits into the hood of the male connector housing, and U is the height of the fitting detection unit. Also, a is the thickness of the outer cylindrical portion, and is also the height of a space for allowing the fitting detection unit to escape from the upper surface of the female connector housing to receive the hood portion of the male connector housing. Therefore, the total height H of the connector with the male and female connectors fitted is shown.
1 is H1 = F + U + 3a. On the other hand, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fitting detection unit aligns the lower surface position with the height of the upper surface of the female connector housing, which is the lowest position at which the female connector housing can be fitted. I have. Therefore, when the total height is calculated by aligning the dimensions with those of the conventional structure described above, the total height H2 is H2 = F + U
+ 2a, and the total height of the connector is reduced by the difference a. Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the connector can be made compact in the height direction.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the male and female connector housings are properly fitted, the spring means, which was in a compressed state during the fitting, moves the slider rearward by its own elastic force, and returns to the original state. Return to For this reason, when the male and female connector housings are fitted, no spring force needs to be applied in the direction in which the fitting is released. In addition, the slider retreats with the regular fitting between the connector housings, but since the slider is arranged in the male connector housing having a longer overall length than the female connector housing,
When the slider is set so as not to protrude from the connector housing, the overall length of the entire connector can be shortened as compared with the related art, which contributes to downsizing in the length direction.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the slider is properly fitted, the slider restricts the bending of the lock arm in the disengagement direction, so that the fitting state can be reliably maintained.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG.
Are female connector housings and male connector housings that can be fitted to each other (hereinafter simply female housing 1).
0, male housing 20).
Reference numerals 0 and 20 are formed of a synthetic resin material. The male housing 20 is provided with a hood portion 22 capable of accommodating the female housing 10 with an open front. In the following, the fitting surfaces of the housings 10 and 20 are respectively referred to as front.

First, the female housing 10 will be described.
On both left and right sides of the upper surface of the female housing 10, ribs 12 are formed to protrude from a position slightly retracted from the front end surface to a rear end surface. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, four cavities 13 are provided side by side in the main body 11, and box-shaped female terminal fittings 14 are housed in these cavities 13. It is possible and is prevented from falling out by a locking mechanism not shown. The outer edge of the front end surface of the female housing 10 is chamfered over the entire circumference to form a tapered surface 15a. In particular, the center portion of the upper edge of the front end surface is provided with the above-described outer edge tapered surface 15a.
Is formed with a taper surface 15b having a slope larger than the inclination angle. Slightly behind the tapered surface 15b, a rectangular recess 16 is provided in a recessed state in a stepped manner, and a front edge portion thereof serves as a lock portion 17. Further, on the rear end face of the female housing 10, an operation portion 18 for fitting and disengaging is locked so as to project upward and to both sides.

Next, the male housing 20 to which the female housing 10 as described above can be fitted will be described. The male housing 20 includes a main body 21 and a rectangular tube-shaped hood 22 surrounding the main body. The main body 21 further includes a terminal accommodating portion 23 accommodating a male terminal fitting 26, and a terminal accommodating portion 23. It is formed integrally with the front side and is formed from an inner cylindrical portion 24 that opens forward. It should be noted that the inner cylindrical portion 24
The thickness of the bottom wall 24a and the upper wall 24b
The plate thicknesses 2 are substantially the same.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the terminal accommodating portion 23 is provided with four chamber cavities 25 arranged side by side in the width direction. The mechanism prevents it from falling off. The tab 26 a of the male terminal fitting 26 projects forward from the terminal accommodating portion 23 and faces the inside of the inner cylindrical portion 24.

The female housing 10 can be fitted into the inner cylindrical portion 24 along the bottom wall 24a.
Tab 26a is connected to the female terminal fitting 14. The inner cylindrical portion 24 is provided with a step 27 between the inner cylindrical portion 24 and the front end of the terminal accommodating portion 23. A pair of hooking recesses 2 is provided on both left and right sides of the portion where the step 27 is provided.
8, a locking claw 50 of a holding arm 49 of the slider 40 described later is releasably locked (see FIG. 5). Also, the upper wall 24b of the inner cylindrical portion 24
A lock arm 30 that can be flexibly deformed by making two notches 29 in the depth direction from the opening edge is formed at the center of the arm.

The lock arm 30 has a lower surface 30a.
Are formed at substantially the same height position as the upper surface 10a of the female housing 10 and have a lock claw 31 at the front end edge. When both the housings 10 and 20 are properly fitted, the female housing 10 is locked. The part 17 can be locked.
A tapered surface 32 is formed on the front end surface of the lock claw 31,
The riding operation of the lock arm 30 on the tapered surface 15b at the center of the female housing 10 is smoothly performed. Above the lock arm 30, a bending space S which allows the bending deformation of the lock arm 30 is provided.
Are formed. And this lock arm 30
The fitting detection unit A, which is a component of the present invention, is configured together with the slider 40 described below.

The slider 40 is disposed in the hood 22 above the main body 21. As shown in FIG. 1, the slider 40 includes a spring holder 41,
The coil spring 4 serving as the spring means is accommodated in a pair of spring accommodating portions 42 formed on both sides thereof so as to be elastically deformable.
3 and a spring stopper 44 attached to the front ends of the two coil springs 43 in a retaining state. The spring accommodating portion 42 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape that opens forward,
A wall 45 protrudes from a part of the front opening edge, and is locked with a part of the spring stopper 44, so that the coil spring 43 is prevented from coming off. Also, the spring accommodating portion 42
A relief groove 46 is opened over a predetermined length range from the front end surface on the lower surface of the, so that the rib 12 can enter.

Guide projections 47 are provided on both sides of the spring holder 41 so as to protrude therefrom. The guide projections 47 are engaged with grooves 33 provided along the longitudinal direction on the inner surface of the hood portion 22 so that the front and rear of the slider 40 can be moved. Movement in the direction is guided. Further, a pair of protrusions 48 are provided near the front end on both sides of the upper surface of the spring holder 41, and these protrusions 48 move the slider 40 in the front-rear direction as shown in FIGS. As a result, it is possible to slide along a through groove 34 provided on the ceiling surface in the hood portion 22 in the front-rear direction. This through groove 3
A stopper 35 protrudes in the middle of the slider 4, and the protrusion 48 can be engaged with the stopper 35.
The rearward escape of zero is regulated.

A pair of holding arms 4 is provided on the lower surface of the spring holder 41 and on the same line as the two escape grooves 46.
9 is provided so as to be able to bend and deform, and the locking claw 50 formed at the front end thereof is hooked on both hooking concave portions 28 of the main body 21, thereby restricting the retreat operation of the slider 40. A tapered surface 51 is formed on the front end surface of the locking claw 50 of the holding arm 49, and the tapered surface 15 of the female housing 10 is formed.
The riding operation of the holding arm 49 with respect to a is smoothly performed. However, the timing for releasing the engagement between the locking claw 50 and the hooking concave portion 28 is determined by the two housings 10,
The timing is set to be the same as or slightly earlier than the timing of the regular fitting of No. 20.

The front edge of the hood portion 22 hangs down and is partially connected to the opening edge of the inner cylindrical portion 24, thereby forming a front wall 36 functioning as a front stop of the slider 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the front wall 36 has a portion corresponding to the internal lock arm 30 cut out for convenience of molding.
A pair of openings 37 for introducing the ribs 12 of the female housing 10 into the hood 22 are formed on both sides thereof. These are provided at positions matching the two escape grooves 46 of the spring holder 41. Therefore,
When the two housings 10 and 20 are fitted together, the coil spring 43 can be compressed by the rib 12 via the spring stopper 44.

As shown in FIG. 4, the center of the lower surface of the spring holder 41 is located in the above-mentioned bending space S of the lock arm 30, and a relief recess 52 which allows the lock arm 30 to escape upward has a stepped shape. It is provided in.
The front portion 55 formed in front of the stepped portion can enter the rear flexible space S with the retreating operation of the slider 40. When the lock arm 30 in the middle of the fitting of the two housings 10 and 20 flexes upward, the stepped portion comes into contact with the lock claw 31 and forms a locking surface 53 that regulates the retreating operation of the slider 40. (See FIG. 6). However, when the two housings 10 and 20 are completely fitted and the lock arm 30 is returned, the lock pawl 31
Is released. An upright operation section 54 is formed at the center of the rear end face of the spring holder 41. Further, even when the spring holder 41 retreats, the stroke is set so that the rear end does not protrude from the male housing 20.

This embodiment has the above-described structure, and its operation will be described below. Both housings 10, 2
When fitting the female housing 10, the female housing 10 is inserted while the lower surface of the female housing 10 is aligned with the inner peripheral surface of the bottom wall 24 a of the inner cylindrical portion 24 of the male housing 20.

First, the tapered surface 32 of the lock arm 30 is brought into contact with the tapered surface 15b formed at the center of the front end of the female housing 10. As the fitting progresses, the lock arm 30 is guided by the tapered surface 15b and is elastically bent and deformed upward, and the lower end of the lock claw 31 rides on the upper surface 10a of the female housing 10 as shown in FIG. It is said. At this time, the lock arm 30 has been released into the relief recess 52 formed in the upper spring holder 41, and the front end of the lock claw 31 has the locking surface 53 of the relief recess 52.
It is in a state of being caught in. As described above, when the two housings 10 and 20 are in the process of being fitted, the slider 4
At 0, the retreating operation is restricted by the lock arm 30 bent upward and the locking claw 50 of the holding arm 49.

When the fitting progresses, the rib 1 of the female housing 10
2 passes through the opening 37 and the relief groove 46 and
7 and comes into contact with a spring stopper 44 attached to the front end of the coil spring 43, as shown in FIG. The rib 12 enters the depth of the spring accommodating portion 42 while compressively deforming the coil spring 43 via the spring stopper 44. At this time, the slider 40 holds the locking claw 50 of the holding arm 49 and the lock arm 3 as described above.
With the lock pawl 31 of 0, the retreat operation is doubly regulated. If the fitting operation is interrupted at this stage, the compressed coil spring 43 is restored, and the spring force causes the female housing 10 to be ejected in a direction away from the male housing 20.
20 is detected to be half-fitted.

Further fitting proceeds, the two housings 10,
When the housing 20 is in the normal fitting state, the tapered surface 15a of the female housing 10 comes into contact with the tapered surface 51 on the holding arm 49 side, and the holding arm 49 is bent upward while being guided by the tapered surface 15a. The locking claw 50 is displaced upward due to the bending deformation and is lifted to a predetermined height, and then, as shown in FIG.

At about the same time when the holding state of the holding arm 49 is released, the lock arm 30 is elastically restored and returned to the original state along the lower surface of the spring holder 41 as shown in FIG. The lock claw 31 of the lock member 30 enters the recess 16 of the female housing 10 and locks the lock portion 17, and the state in which the front end of the lock arm 30 escapes and locks the lock surface 53 of the recess 52 is released. In this manner, the slider 40 is released from the state where the retreat operation is doubly restricted, and moves backward by the elastic force of the coil spring 43. With the movement of the slider 40, the protrusion 48 provided on the upper surface of the spring holder 41 slides along the through groove 34, and the stopper 3 provided rearward is provided.
The movement of the slider 40 is stopped when it comes into contact with 5, and the backward movement of the slider 40 is restricted.

When the slider 40 is retracted, the front part 55 at the center of the spring holder 41 is
0, and has entered the bending space S above, so that the lower surface of the front portion 55 presses the distal end side of the lock arm 30. Thereby, the upward bending (disengagement direction) of the lock arm 30 is restricted, the locking to the lock portion 17 is doubled, the holding force is improved, and a more secure locking state is obtained.

When the slider 40 is displaced backward, it is detected that the housings 10 and 20 are completely fitted and the terminal fittings 14 and 26 are securely connected. Further, at this time, since both coil springs 43 have returned to a substantially natural length by the rearward movement of the spring holder 41, they do not act as a force for separating the two housings 10 and 20 in a completely fitted state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
By forming two notches 29 in the upper wall 24b of the inner cylindrical portion 24 to form the lock arm 30 forming the fitting detection unit A, the height position of the lower surface 30a of the lock arm 30 is changed to the female housing. The height can be adjusted substantially to the height position of the upper surface 10a of the upper surface 10, and the lower limit of the arrangement height of the fitting detection unit A can be reduced to the lowest position where the female housing 10 can be fitted. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the connector in the height direction.

Since the male housing originally has a hood for protecting the male terminal fittings, the overall length is longer than that of the female housing, and the male housing 20 is provided with the fitting detection unit A. Accordingly, the fitting detection unit A can be housed without jumping out of the male housing 20 even in a state where the retreat operation is performed, and the connector can be downsized in the length direction.

The present invention can be modified in various ways.
The following modifications are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, the case where the male and female housings are properly fitted to release the elastic force of the coil spring to cause the slider to retreat is described.However, it is necessary to stably maintain the fitted state of both housings. If it is possible, the coil spring need not always be released, in which case the slider can be omitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a front view of the female housing.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a male housing.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-
X-ray sectional view

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Y- in FIG.
Y-line sectional view

FIG. 6 shows a state X in FIG.
-X-ray sectional view

FIG. 7 shows a state in which both housings are in the process of being fitted together.
-Y line sectional view

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 3 showing a state in which both housings are completely fitted.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. 3 showing a state in which both housings are completely fitted.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a conventional connector.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the connector of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 ... Female connector housing 10a ... Top surface 12 ... Rib (press-in protrusion) 14 ... Female terminal fitting 17 ... Locking section 20 ... Male connector housing 22 ... Hood section 26 ... Male terminal fitting 30 ... Lock arm 30a ... Lower surface 40: slider 43: coil spring (spring means) A: fitting detection unit S: bending space

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Osamu Kawase 1-14 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie F-term (reference) 5E021 FA05 FA09 FA14 FA16 FB07 FC40 HC07 HC09 KA15

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A female connector housing capable of accommodating a female terminal fitting and having a lock portion and a push-in projection provided on a front portion of an upper surface thereof, a female terminal fitting capable of accommodating a male terminal fitting and opening forward and having a female inside. A male connector housing formed with a hood portion to which the connector housing can be fitted; in the hood portion, the male and female connector housings are engaged with the locking portion in a state where the male and female connector housings are properly fitted; A lock arm that holds the mated state,
A fitting detecting unit is provided along a fitting direction of the male and female connector housings, and is provided with a spring means that is compressed by the pushing protruding portion with the fitting of the male and female connector housings, and a lower surface of the fitting detecting unit. Wherein the height position is substantially equal to the height position of the upper surface of the female connector housing when the male and female connector housings are fitted. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the spring means is incorporated in a slider movable within the hood portion along a fitting direction of the connector housing, and the slider bends and deforms when the lock arm gets over the lock portion. When the lock arm is locked, the spring means is held in the original position while compressing the spring means.When the male and female connector housings are properly fitted, the lock arm returns and locks with the lock portion. 2. The mating detection connector according to claim 1, wherein the mating detection connector is disengaged from the lock arm and can be moved rearward by the elastic force of the spring means. 3. The slider has a lock arm bending space between the slider and the lock arm so as to allow the lock arm to flex until the connector housings are properly mated. On the other hand, when the two connector housings are properly fitted to each other and the slider retreats, a part of the slider enters the bending space and the bending of the lock arm in the disengagement direction can be restricted. 3. The mating detection connector according to claim 2, wherein: