JPH0321017Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention attaches a spacer to the housing via a long hinge arm to prevent terminals from coming off later, and the installation state of the spacer can be determined at a glance. Moreover, the present invention relates to a connector housing having a structure in which the spacer is biased in the locking direction of the lock portion when the spacer is inserted.

[Prior Art] Generally, an electrical connector is provided with a flexible locking arm in a terminal accommodating chamber formed inside an insulating housing, and an electrical connection terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber is locked to the locking arm. It has a structure that prevents it from slipping out.

However, the locking arm may be deformed or damaged by an external force that pulls the electric wire connected to the terminal in the direction in which the terminal comes out, and there is a risk that the terminal may come off.

Furthermore, even if the terminal is incompletely inserted into the terminal receiving chamber and the terminal is not yet locked in the locking arm, it is not visible from the outside and is easily overlooked.
This causes an accident in which an unlocked terminal easily comes off due to a tensile external force applied to the wire.

A spacer is used to prevent the terminal from coming off as described above.

That is, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of terminal accommodation chambers 3 are provided inside by a partition wall 2.
is formed.

The terminal 4 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 3 has a terminal connecting part 5 into which a mating terminal is fitted, and a wire locking part 7 which locks an electric wire 6 connected to the terminal 4.

Furthermore, a groove 8 for inserting a spacer is formed by cutting out the partition wall 2 in the upper part of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 on the terminal insertion opening side, and a flat spacer 9 is inserted into the groove 8.

Flexible lock arms 10 are protruded from the upper surface of the spacer 9 near both ends thereof. The lock arm 10 is formed into a bent cantilever shape, and a locking portion 11 having a notched step is provided on the free end side.

On the other hand, a spacer 9 is provided on the upper wall of the housing 1.
When the locking portion 11 is fully inserted into the groove 8
A long hole 12 is provided at a position opposite to the long hole 12.
The lock arm 10 constitutes a lock portion that locks the spacer 9 inserted into the groove 8.

Next, prevention of the terminal 4 from falling out later by the spacer 9 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the terminal 4 with the electric wire 6 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 3 of the housing 1 and the spacer 9 is inserted into the groove 8, the lock arm 10
is pressed against the upper wall of the housing 1 and bends, and when the spacer 9 is fully inserted, the lock arm 1
0 fits into the elongated hole 12, and the locking portion 11 engages with the inner surface of the elongated hole 12 (see FIG. 6B).

Therefore, even if an external tensile force is applied to the wire 6 and the terminal 4 attempts to move in the withdrawal direction, the wire locking portion 7
Since the terminal 4 collides with the spacer 9, movement of the terminal 4 is inhibited.

Furthermore, when the spacer 9 is inserted, the terminal 4, which has not been completely inserted, is pushed and the terminal 4 is completely inserted to a position where it is locked to the lock arm 10.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

As described above, when the spacer 9 is completely inserted, the terminal 4 can be completely inserted and the terminal 4 can be prevented from falling out later. However, if the spacer 9 is incompletely inserted, the following problem occurs.

(1) Due to carelessness of the wiring worker, the spacer insertion work is incomplete and the spacer is not locked into the housing as shown in Figure 6 A.

(2) Due to carelessness of the wiring worker, the terminal was inserted but the spacer was forgotten.

Items (1) and (2) above are both due to operator carelessness, but it is difficult to visually detect the spacer insertion failure from the outside, and there is a lack of reliability in preventing the terminal from coming off. I had a problem.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve such problems, and it makes it difficult to forget to insert the spacer, and even if the spacer is forgotten or incomplete, it can be confirmed at a glance. This prevents the spacer from being completely inserted, and also ensures that the inserted spacer is locked.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms a groove on the terminal insertion opening side of the terminal accommodating chamber formed inside the housing, and a lock portion for locking a spacer inserted into the groove is attached to the groove. and a connector housing provided on the spacer to prevent the terminals housed in the terminal accommodating chambers from being removed by the spacer, which extend substantially parallel to the terminal insertion direction from one end attached to both outer surfaces of the housing. Both side surfaces of the spacer are attached to the free ends of a flexible long hinge arm, which has a base formed at the base and a support part projecting upwardly from the housing through a bent part at the other end of the base. When inserting the spacer into the groove by rotating the supporting part about the bent part as a fulcrum, the spacer is biased in the locking direction of the locking part by the elastic force of the long hinge arm. This is a characteristic feature.

[Effect]

The connector housing configured as described above operates as follows.

When the spacer is not inserted into the spacer insertion groove, the support portion of the flexible long hinge arm protrudes above the housing, so that it can be confirmed at a glance that the spacer is not inserted.

Furthermore, since the spacer is attached to the support portion of the long hinge arm, it will not be removed during wiring.

When the spacer is inserted into the spacer insertion groove, the flexible long hinge arm is elastically deformed using the bent portion as a fulcrum and urges the spacer in the locking direction of the locking portion, so that the spacer is reliably locked.

〔Example〕

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

Note that the same parts as in the conventional example are given the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 3 are formed inside a housing 13 by a partition wall 2.
A groove 8 for inserting a spacer is formed by cutting out the partition wall 2 in the upper part of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 on the terminal insertion opening side.

A base 14a extends substantially parallel to the terminal insertion direction from one end attached to both outer surfaces of the housing 13, and a bent portion 14b is provided at the other end of the base 14a.
Both sides of the spacer 15 are attached to the free end of the flexible long hinge arm 14, which has a supporting portion 14c projecting upwardly from the housing 13 through the spacer 15.

Therefore, when the long hinge arm 14 is not subjected to external force, the spacer 15 protrudes above the housing 13 and is in an eye-catching position, and the spacer 15
However, when inserting the spacer 15 into the groove 8 by rotating the support part 14c about the bent part 14b (see FIG. 3), the long hinge arm 14 The lock arm 10 of the spacer 15 is urged in the direction of fitting into the elongated hole 12 by the elastic force (see FIG. 4 A to C).

Next, prevention of the terminal 4 from falling out later by the spacer 15 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 4 having the wire locking portion 7 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 3 of the housing 13.

Next, the support portion 14 of the flexible long hinge arm 14
When the spacer 15 is partially inserted into the groove 8 by rotating the spacer 15 in the direction of the arrow F in FIG. , the lock arm 10 presses lightly against the upper wall of the housing 13.

As the spacer 15 is further inserted into the groove 8, the long hinge arm 14 is elastically deformed by the dimension in the insertion direction of the spacer 15, and the long hinge arm 14, which is about to return to its original shape, is newly moved in the direction of the arrow Q. (See Figure 4 A and B).

When the spacer 15 is further inserted into the groove 8, the lock arm 10 enters the elongated hole 12, and the locking portion 11 of the lock arm 10 engages with the inner wall of the elongated hole 12, but the elongated hinge arm 14 is arrow P
Since an elastic force is generated in the R direction and the Q direction, the resultant force presses the spacer 15 in the R direction, so that the engagement state between the locking part 11 and the elongated hole 12 is reliably maintained (see Fig. 4). reference).

Due to worker's carelessness, the locking part 11 and the long hole 12
If you let go of the spacer 15 before they engage, the spacer 15 receives the force of the long hinge arm 14 in the direction of the arrow Q and retreats toward the opening side of the groove 8, and the fourth
Since it returns to the position shown in Figure A, it can be easily determined that it is not locked.

[Effect of idea]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the following effects.

(1) Since the spacer is integrally connected to the housing via the long hinge arm, the wiring worker will not have to remove it, and if you forget to insert the spacer, it will be supported by the long hinge arm. Since the spacer protrudes above the housing, it is easy to forget to insert it.

(2) The lock arm of the spacer is pressed against the long hole of the lock part by the elastic force of the long hinge arm, so it is securely inserted into the long hole.

Furthermore, since the locking portion of the lock arm is pressed in the direction of locking with the elongated hole, the lock is held securely.

If the spacer is not inserted sufficiently and is not locked, the spacer will protrude from the spacer insertion groove due to the elastic force of the long hinge arm, so that incomplete insertion of the spacer can be easily detected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show embodiments of the present invention.
The figure is a perspective view of the housing, Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front view of the main part explaining the collapsed state of the spacer, and Figures 4-4 illustrate the engagement of the lock part. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional housing, spacer, etc., and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part for explaining engagement of a conventional lock part. 2... Partition wall, 3... Terminal storage chamber, 4... Terminal, 6... Electric wire, 7... Electric wire locking part, 8... Groove,
10... Lock arm, 11... Locking part, 12...
...Long hole, 13...Housing, 14...Long hinge arm, 14a...Base, 14b...Bending part, 14
c...Support part, 15...Housing.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A groove is formed on the terminal insertion opening side of the terminal accommodating chamber formed inside the housing, and a lock portion for locking the spacer inserted into the groove is attached to the groove and the spacer. A connector housing is provided in which a terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodation chamber is prevented from being removed by a spacer, and a base portion extending substantially parallel to the terminal insertion direction from one end attached to both outer surfaces of the housing; Both side surfaces of the spacer are attached to the free ends of a flexible long hinge arm, which has a support part projecting upwardly from the housing through a bent part at the other end of the base part, and the support part is attached to the free end of the flexible long hinge arm. A connector characterized in that when the spacer is inserted into the groove by rotating about the bent portion as a fulcrum, the spacer is biased in the locking direction of the lock portion by the elastic force of the long hinge arm. housing.