JP3470026B2 - Connector structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector structure for fitting and unmating (fitting and unmating) both female and male connectors used for connecting electric wires for automobiles, and in particular, both female and male connectors have the same circuit. The present invention relates to a connector structure with a terminal detection function that has an erroneous mating prevention function that prevents mating unless they have the same terminal arrangement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a connector structure of this type, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-130419 shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, this connector structure includes a synthetic resin male connector 1 and the male connector 1.
And a female connector 5 made of synthetic resin for inserting and removing.

As shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (c), the terminal housing chamber 2 of the male connector 1 has a cantilevered flexibility for locking the female terminal 3 housed in the terminal housing chamber 2. The locking portion 4 is integrally formed so as to project. The free end 4a of the flexible locking portion 4 projects forward from the fitting surface F with the female connector 5 and serves as a locking releasing operation portion.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 (b) and 8 (c),
The terminal housing chamber 6 of the female connector 5 is integrally formed with a cantilevered flexible locking portion 8 for locking the male terminal 7 housed in the terminal housing chamber 6. Free end 8 of this flexible locking portion 8
The reference character a serves as an unlocking operation portion, which projects forward from the fitting surface F'with the male connector 1 in the hood portion 5a and is displaced by the jig 9. When the connectors 1 and 5 are fitted and removed, the terminals 3 and 7 are fitted and removed.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional connector structure, in order to facilitate the extraction of the terminals 3 and 7,
Although the free ends 4a and 8a of the flexible locking portions 4 and 8 are projected from the fitting surfaces F and F ', the flexible locking portions are projected from the fitting surfaces F and F'. Free ends 4a, 8a of parts 4, 8
It is also possible to detect halfway fitting of each terminal 3, 7 by using. However, even if the terminals 3 and 7 are detected to be half-fitted, if they are completely fitted, the connectors 1 and 5 can be fitted, and the terminals 1 and 5 are housed in the terminal housing chambers in the same shape. There is a problem that wrong mating (hereinafter referred to as erroneous mating) may occur between connectors with different terminals (hereinafter referred to as accommodating terminals) arrangement, and the erroneous connector electrically inspects these connectors. There was a risk of being transported to the process. In particular, the connector structure used for connecting electric wires for automobiles uses a plurality of connectors having the same number of poles and the same shape, but at this time, it is not always necessary to accommodate all pole terminals in each terminal accommodating chamber. Therefore, there is a possibility that connectors having different terminal arrangements may be erroneously fitted and assembled.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can easily and reliably prevent erroneous fitting when connectors of the same pole and the same shape have different arrangements of accommodating terminals. An object is to provide a connector structure that can be used.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is a female,
A terminal accommodating chamber is provided in either one of the male and female connectors, and a cantilevered flexible engaging portion for engaging one terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber is provided in a protruding manner, while the other connector is provided. In addition to providing a terminal accommodating chamber, a cantilevered flexible locking portion that locks the other terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber is provided so that both terminals can be freely inserted and removed when these connectors are inserted and removed. In the connector structure described above, a cantilevered flexible terminal abutting portion that bends due to the accommodation of the one terminal is provided in the one connector, and the flexible locking portion of the one connector is free. While extending the end side to a position close to the flexible terminal abutting portion, a cutout portion is provided at a position of the other connector facing the flexible terminal abutting portion, and the other connector Abutting the flexible locking portion of the flexible terminal Characterized by being freely combined as part.

In this connector structure, the flexible terminal abutting portion or the flexible terminal abutting portion can be formed when the terminals are accommodated in only one of the terminal accommodating chambers of the female and male connectors. Both terminals are not fitted because the terminals hit the flexible locking portion. Further, both terminals are fitted when both terminals are housed in both terminal housing chambers of both connectors and when both terminals are not housed in both terminal housing chambers of both connectors. As a result, it is possible to easily and reliably prevent erroneous fitting between the two connectors when the arrangement of the terminals accommodated in the same-polarity and same-shaped connectors is different.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the connector structure according to the first aspect, when the one terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the one connector, the flexibility is provided by the accommodated one terminal. The terminal abutting portion is made to be flexibly deformable toward the cutout portion in the direction in which it does not hit the other terminal, and when the other terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the other connector, the flexible terminal abutment is performed. It is characterized in that the flexible locking portion that also serves as a contact portion is flexibly deformable in a direction in which it does not contact the one terminal.

In this connector structure, when the terminals are accommodated in the respective terminal accommodating chambers of both connectors, the flexible terminal abutting portion and the flexible locking portion that also serves as the flexible terminal abutting portion. Do not hit each terminal of each connector facing each other, and both connectors are fitted smoothly and reliably.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the connector structure according to the first and second aspects, a part of the other terminal is freely exposed from the cutout portion of the other connector. .

In this connector structure, it is determined whether the other terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the other connector.
It can be easily detected by the notch, and erroneous fitting between both connectors can be easily and surely prevented.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a female connector used in a connector structure with a terminal detecting function according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of a male connector used in the same connector structure. It is a figure. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the connector structure with the terminal detecting function includes a female connector (one connector) 10 made of synthetic resin, and a male connector made of synthetic resin (which is inserted into and removed from the female connector 10). (The other connector)
20 and 20.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (a)-(c), the connector housing 11 made of synthetic resin and having a substantially box shape is used for the female connector 10 and the terminal housing chamber 12 on the base side and the tip side. And a hood portion 13 of. The terminal accommodating chamber 12 is in the shape of a rectangular tube, and has a hood portion 13 on the upper wall 12a.
On one side, a cantilevered flexible locking piece (flexible locking portion) 14 for locking the male terminal (one terminal) 18 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 12 is integrally formed obliquely downward. There is. A flexible terminal butting arm (flexible terminal butting portion) 15 is integrally projected on the lower wall 12b of the terminal accommodating chamber 12 toward the hood portion 13 so as to project into the hood portion 13 by a predetermined length. Has been formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (b),
Hook-shaped locking end (free end) 1 on the tip side of the flexible locking piece 14
The position 4a is locked in the rectangular engagement hole (engagement portion) 18a of the male terminal 18 and is inserted between the protrusions 15a, 15a on both sides of the center of the upper surface of the flexible terminal abutting arm 15. Has been extended to. Further, the flexible terminal butting arm 15 includes the hood portion 13 of the lower wall 12b of the terminal accommodating chamber 12.
The pair of groove-shaped slits 12c, 12c formed on the side protrudes in a concave shape on the front side, and the tip portion 15b side thereof is formed to be higher than the base end portion 15c side. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), the flexible terminal abutting arm 15 is housed in the terminal housing chamber 12 of the female connector 10 and the male terminal 18 locked by the flexible locking piece 14. The respective projections 15a are adapted to be flexibly deformed toward the lower wall 13b side of the hood portion 13 (the cutout portion 25 side of the male connector 20 in the direction not contacting the tip end portion 28b of the female terminal 28 described later). A guide groove 12d for guiding both sides of the tip portion 18b of the male terminal 18 is formed at the center of each inner surface of both side walls of the terminal accommodating chamber 12.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c), the hood portion 13 has a front cross-shaped hollow portion, and the upper wall 13a.
A locking projection (locking portion) 13c is integrally formed on the opening end side of the. Further, the lower wall 13b of the hood portion 13 is extended to the center of the lower wall 12b of the terminal accommodating chamber 12 so as to cover the flexible terminal butting arm 15. The male connector 20 is adapted to be fitted into and removed from the upper and lower walls 13a, 13b of the hood portion 13. Both ends of the tip portion 18b of the male terminal 18 are slightly bent upward. An electric wire 19 is connected to the base portion 18c of the male terminal 18.

Further, FIG. 1B and FIGS. 3A to 3D
As shown in FIG. 3, the connector housing 21 made of synthetic resin and having a substantially box shape of the male connector 20 includes a lower terminal accommodating chamber 22 and an upper lock arm portion (engaging portion) 23. The terminal accommodating chamber 22 is in the shape of a square cylinder, and the upper wall 2
In the center of 2a, a cantilevered flexible locking piece (flexible locking portion) 24 for locking the female terminal (the other terminal) 28 housed in the terminal housing chamber 22 is integrally projected obliquely downward. Has been formed. The flexible locking piece 24 also serves as a flexible terminal abutting portion against which the tip portion 18b of the male terminal 18 of the female connector 10 abuts when it is not elastically deformed. In addition, the flexible terminal butting arm 1 of the lower wall 22b of the terminal accommodating chamber 22
A rectangular notch 25 is formed at a position opposite to 5. A part of the female terminal 28 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 on the side of the tip portion 28b is exposed from the cutout portion 25.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (b) and 3 (d),
The rectangular parallelepiped locking end (free end) 24 a of the flexible locking piece 24 is locked to the notch (engaging part) 28 a on the upper end of the female terminal 28. . The flexible locking piece 24 also serves as a flexible terminal abutting portion against which the distal end portion 18b of the male terminal 18 of the female connector 10 abuts when the flexible locking piece 24 does not elastically deform. . further,
Flexible locking piece 24 that also serves as this flexible terminal abutting portion
The locking end 24a side of the terminal housing chamber 22 of the male connector 20
When the female terminal 28 is accommodated in the female connector 10, the male terminal 18 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the female connector 10 is flexibly deformed in a direction in which the male terminal 18 does not hit the tip portion 18b.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (d), the lock arm 23 is integrally formed on the upper wall 22a of the terminal accommodating chamber 22 in the shape of a stepped front. A rectangular engaging hole (engaging portion) 23c formed in the upper wall 23a of the lock arm 23.
The engaging projection 13c of the lower wall 13b of the hood portion 13 of the female connector 10 is engaged with this. The tip 28b side of the male terminal 28 is bent into a rectangular tube shape, and the tip 18b of the female terminal 18 is inserted into and contacted with the tip 28b for electrical connection. . An electric wire 29 is connected to the base portion 28c of the male terminal 28.

According to the connector structure with a terminal detecting function of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when neither the male terminal 18 nor the female terminal 28 is housed in each terminal housing chamber 12, 22, Flexible terminal butting arm 1 of female connector 10
Reference numeral 5 denotes a flexible locking piece 2 which also serves as a flexible terminal abutting portion of the male connector 20 in the cutout portion 25 of the male connector 20.
Since there is nothing hitting the locking end 24a of No. 4, both connectors 10 and 20 can be fitted together.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the male terminal 18 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the female connector 10 and the female terminal 28 is not accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 of the male connector 20, When trying to fit both the female and male connectors 10 and 20, the tip portion 18b of the male terminal 18 of the female connector 10
Corresponds to the locking end 24a of the flexible locking piece 24 that also serves as the flexible terminal abutting portion of the male connector 20, and both connectors 1
0 and 20 cannot be fitted together.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the male terminal 18 is not accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the female connector 10 and the female terminal 28 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 of the male connector 20, When the female and male connectors 10 and 20 are to be fitted together, the tip portion 28 of the female terminal 28 of the male connector 20 is
b hits the tip 15b of the flexible terminal butting arm 15 of the female connector 10, and the connectors 10 and 20 cannot be fitted to each other.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the male terminal 18 and the female terminal 28 are both housed in the respective terminal housing chambers 12 and 22, the flexible terminal butting arm 15 of the female connector 10 is In the cutout portion 25 of the male connector 20, which is bent downward in the figure, the engaging end 24a of the flexible engaging piece 24 that also serves as the abutting portion of the flexible terminal of the male connector 20 is the tip portion of the female terminal 28. The upper side of 28b causes the male terminal 18 to bend upward in the drawing.
Female and male connectors 1 to escape above
0 and 20 can be fitted together. As a result, in the connector structure including the female and male connectors 10 and 20, the connectors 10 and 20 are fitted to each other only when the connectors 10 and 20 have the same circuit (the same number of poles and the same shape). . In particular, it is effective when this connector structure is used for connecting an electric wire for an automobile, for example. That is, although a plurality of connectors having the same number of poles and the same shape are used in the connection of the electric wires for automobiles, all-pole terminals are not necessarily accommodated and used in each terminal accommodating chamber. In this case, if the female and male connectors 10 and 20 having the above structure are used, connectors having different terminal arrangements will not be erroneously fitted and assembled.

In this way, the female and male connectors 10,
When the male and female terminals 20 and 20 are fitted together, the presence or absence of the male terminal 18 and the female terminal 28 is detected, and the flexible terminal abutting arm 15 of the female connector 10 and the flexible terminal abutting portion of the male connector 20 are used as a flexible lock. This can be performed easily and surely by the piece 24, and it is possible to reliably prevent erroneous fitting of both connectors when the arrangement of the housing terminals is different. Furthermore, the housing terminal is 1
Since each pole is independent, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the accommodation terminal even if there is a difference in one pole in the multipolar connector. Further, when used in combination with a conventional erroneous fitting prevention mechanism such as a rib of the connector fitting portion, erroneous fitting prevention can be achieved more reliably.

According to the above-described embodiment, one connector is used as a female connector to accommodate a male terminal and the other connector is used as a male connector to accommodate a female terminal. However, the female connector is accommodated in the male connector. The male terminal may be housed in the connector and both connectors may be fitted together, and any combination is possible.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the flexible terminal abutting portion which is bent by accommodating one terminal provided in either one of the female and male connectors And a flexible locking portion that locks the other terminal that also serves as the flexible terminal abutting portion provided on the other connector, and determines whether or not there is a terminal accommodated in each terminal accommodation chamber of both connectors. It is possible to reliably perform detection, and it is possible to reliably prevent erroneous fitting of both connectors when the arrangement of terminals is different.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when one terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of either one of the female and male connectors, the flexible terminal abutment portion is accommodated by the accommodated one terminal. Is flexible and deformable toward the cutout portion provided on the other connector, and when the other terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the other connector, a flexible lock that also serves as a flexible terminal abutting portion The flexible terminal abutting portion and the flexible terminal abutting portion can be flexibly deformed in a direction that does not hit one terminal, so that when both terminals are accommodated in each terminal accommodating chamber of both connectors, Since the flexible locking portion that also serves as a portion does not hit each terminal of each connector facing each other, both connectors can be fitted smoothly and reliably.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the other terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber can be partially exposed through the notch provided in the other connector, the terminal accommodating terminal of the other connector can be accommodated. Whether or not the other terminal is accommodated in the chamber can be easily detected by the notch portion, and erroneous fitting of both connectors can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a female connector used in a connector structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of a male connector used in the connector structure.

2A is a front view of the female connector, FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2C is C in FIG. 2A.
It is sectional drawing which follows the C line.

3A is a front view of the male connector, FIG. 3B is a bottom view of the male connector, FIG. 3C is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 3A, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the DD line in a).

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of both female and male connectors when there is neither a male terminal nor a female terminal in the above connector structure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a non-fitted state of both the female and male connectors when there is a male terminal and no female terminal in the above connector structure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a non-fitted state of both female and male connectors when there is no male terminal but female terminals in the connector structure.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of both the female and male connectors when both the male terminal and the female terminal are present in the connector structure.

8A is a sectional view of a male connector used in a conventional connector structure, FIG. 8B is a sectional view of a female connector used in the same connector structure, and FIG. 8C is a female and male connector in the same connector structure. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting state of.

[Explanation of Codes] 10 Female Connector (One Connector) 12 Terminal Housing 14 Flexible Locking Piece (Flexible Locking Part) 14a Locking End (Free End) 15 Flexible Terminal Abutting Arm (OK) Flexible terminal abutting part) 18 Male terminal (one terminal) 20 Male connector (other connector) 22 Terminal accommodating chamber 24 Flexible locking piece (flexible locking part) 25 Cutout part 28 Female terminal ( (The other terminal)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/64 H01R 13/42

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A terminal accommodating chamber is provided in either one of the female and male connectors, and a cantilevered flexible engaging portion for engaging one terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber is projected. On the other hand, the other connector is provided with a terminal accommodating chamber, and a cantilevered flexible engaging portion for engaging the other terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber is provided in a projecting manner to insert and remove these connectors. At the same time, in a connector structure in which both terminals can be freely inserted and removed, a cantilevered flexible terminal abutting portion that bends due to the accommodation of the one terminal is provided on the one connector, and the connector of the one connector is While extending the free end side of the flexible locking portion to a position close to the flexible terminal abutting portion, a notch portion is provided at a position facing the flexible terminal abutting portion of the other connector. Provided and the flexible locking portion of the other connector Connector structure, characterized in that the freely also as a flexible terminal abutment portion. 2. The connector structure according to claim 1, wherein when the one terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the one connector, the flexible terminal abutting portion is formed by the accommodated one terminal. While flexibly deformable to the notch portion side in the direction not hitting the other terminal, when the other terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber of the other connector,
A connector structure characterized in that the flexible locking portion that also serves as a flexible terminal abutting portion is flexibly deformable in a direction in which it does not abut the one terminal. 3. The connector structure according to claim 1, wherein a part of the other terminal is exposed from the cutout portion of the other connector.