JPH0321027Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a connector that connects and disconnects circuits by inserting and removing a male connector into and from a female connector.

[Prior Art] When connecting a male connector to a female connector by inserting a male connector into a conventional connector, the insertion operation must be performed while holding the two in a predetermined positional relationship determined by their shapes. However, there is a problem in that the connection workability between the female connector and the male connector is poor, and the above problem becomes even more serious when assembling an automobile or the like that requires a large number of connectors.

[Purpose of the invention] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and its purpose is to eliminate the need to pay any consideration to the positional relationship between the two when connecting a male connector to a female connector, and to solve the following problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector that can achieve extremely good connection workability between a female connector and a male connector, and can significantly improve the manufacturability of the male connector.

[Summary of the invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms the connector shell of the male connector into a cylindrical shape, and the outer periphery of the connector shell is perpendicular to the axial direction and is spaced at a predetermined distance from each other. In addition to providing a plurality of annular support parts parallel to each other in the state, a plurality of annular terminal pieces made of a conductive metal are fitted into the annular support parts by a spring force in the direction of diameter reduction.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a female connector, and 2 is a male connector that is inserted into and removed from the female connector 1. First, the male connector 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 as well. That is, 3 is a plastic connector shell, which has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and around the periphery thereof, three annular grooves 4 serving as annular supports are perpendicular to the axial direction of the connector shell 3 and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. In the bottom portion of each annular groove portion 4, a slit 5 oriented in the axial direction exists at a phase angle of 120° with respect to the axis of the connector shell 3. It is formed through and in a shifted state. Also,
On the outer periphery of the connector shell 3, a large-diameter annular stopper part 6 is integrally formed on the lower edge thereof, and an annular locking groove 7 is carved along the upper edge of the stopper part 6. There is. Reference numeral 8 denotes, for example, three male-side annular terminal pieces made by bending a long conductive metal plate with spring properties such as phosphor bronze, and a projecting piece 8a is formed at one end by bending inward. ing. The annular terminal pieces 8 are fitted into the annular groove 4 of the connector shell 3 by using the spring force in the direction of diameter reduction, so that they are concentrically arranged at a predetermined distance from each other on the outer periphery of the connector shell 3. arranged in a row. Incidentally, when each annular terminal piece 8 is fitted into the annular groove 4, its protruding piece 8a is projected into the connector shell 3 through the slit 5, and a total of three protruding pieces 8a thus protruded Each lead wire 9
One end of each lead wire 9 is connected to the proximal end side of the connector shell 3 (the annular stopper part 6
side) to the outside.

Next, regarding the female connector 1, see Figures 4 and 5.
This will be explained with reference to figures. That is, 10 is a plastic connector housing, which includes a housing main body 11 having an insertion port 11a and a terminal insertion opening 11b on the bottom and side surfaces, respectively, and a housing body 11 that is inserted into the terminal insertion opening 11b. It consists of a housing main body part 11 and a rectangular cylindrical terminal holding member 12 connected to the housing body part 11. In this case, the side wall of the housing body 11 is formed in a "U" shape, and the inner surface of the side wall has three grooves 11c extending over the entire area at predetermined intervals (specifically, the male connector 2 The grooves are carved at intervals corresponding to the row pitch of the annular terminal pieces 8. Reference numeral 13 denotes a female terminal piece made of a springy conductive metal plate such as phosphor bronze, and each female terminal piece 13 has a circular hole 14 shaped to surround the male annular terminal piece 8.
a, and a rectangular terminal main body 14 having a plurality of substantially dogleg-shaped elastic tongues 14b bent upward from the edge of the circular hole 14a.
a pair of rising pieces 15 bent on both sides of the terminal main body 14; and a connecting piece 16 extending from the center of one side between the rising pieces 15, 15 in the terminal main body 14. It is composed of. And such terminal piece 1
3 is inserted into the housing main body 11 through the terminal insertion opening 11b, and when inserted, the pair of rising pieces 15
is fitted into the groove 11c of the housing body portion 11. Further, such detachment of the terminal piece 13 is prevented by the terminal holding member 12, and in this case, the connecting piece portion 16 of the terminal piece 13 is inserted into the terminal holding member through the terminal insertion opening 11b. Projected into 12. Note that locking protrusions 11d and 12a (see FIG. 1) are provided at positions facing the insertion hole 11a at the lower ends of the housing body 11 and the terminal holding member 12, respectively.
is formed protrudingly. Furthermore, an engagement hole 11e and an engagement protrusion 12b are formed on one side of each of the housing body 11 and the terminal press member 12, and the housing body 11 and the terminal press member 12 are engaged with each other by these engagements. The connection state is maintained.

However, in the above configuration, when connecting the male connector 2 to the female connector 1 by inserting it,
The male connector 2 is inserted into the insertion hole 11a of the female connector 1 from the direction of arrow A in FIG. In such an inserted state, the male connector 2 is pressed against the elastic tongue piece 14b of the terminal piece 13 of the female connector
The annular terminal pieces 8 on the side are brought into contact, and the three male annular terminal pieces 8 and the female terminal pieces 13 are connected one to one, and the locking grooves 7 of the male connector 2 are connected. When the locking protrusions 11d and 12a of the female connector 1 are engaged, the male connector 2
This will prevent it from coming off. From this state, the male connector 2 is connected to the locking groove 7 and the locking protrusion 11.
d and 12a in the opposite direction of arrow A in FIG.
It comes off from 1a and the connection between both terminal pieces 8 and 13 is released.

Therefore, if a circuit is connected to the lead wire 9 on the male side annular terminal piece 8 side and the connection piece part 16 on the female side terminal piece 13 side, the circuits will be mutually connected when the male connector 2 is inserted into or removed from the female connector 1. It is possible to connect and separate between the two. According to this embodiment, the connector shell 3 of the male connector 2 is formed into a cylindrical shape, and three annular terminal pieces 8 are arranged around the outer circumference of the connector shell 3.
are arranged in a row, and three terminal pieces 13 corresponding to the annular terminal piece 8 are arranged concentrically on the female connector 1 side.
When inserting the male connector 2 into the insertion hole 11a,
No matter what position the male connector 2 is in when rotated about its axis, both terminal pieces 8 and 13 can be reliably brought into contact with each other as long as the direction of insertion (direction of arrow A) is careful. In short, according to this embodiment, when connecting the male connector 2 to the female connector 1 by inserting it, there is no need to pay any consideration to the positional relationship between the two, and the connection workability can be extremely improved. Furthermore, the male connector 2 is constructed by fitting the male side annular terminal piece 8 into a plurality of annular grooves 4 formed on the outer periphery of the connector shell 3 by using its spring force in the diameter reduction direction. Since it is a product, it is possible to improve its manufacturability.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and will be described below. That is,
Reference numeral 17 denotes a plastic connector shell of a male connector, which is formed in a stepped shape with three flat cylindrical portions 18, 19, and 20, each of which is an annular support portion whose diameter decreases toward the tip. ,19,2
0 side walls each have slits 18 oriented in the axial direction.
a, 19a, and 20a are formed through the connector shell 17 with phase angles of 120 degrees as the center. In addition, connector shell 1
The top of the cylindrical portion 20 located at the top of the connector shell 17 is closed, and a large-diameter annular stopper portion 21 and a locking groove 22 are provided at the lower end of the connector shell 17, respectively. Around each of the cylindrical portions 18, 19, 20 of the connector shell 17, there are male annular terminal pieces 23, 24, 25, respectively.
are fitted by press-fitting using their spring properties and arranged concentrically. In this case, the projecting pieces 23a, 24 of each terminal piece 23, 24, 25
a, 25a are the slits 18a, 19a, 20
a, and one end of each of three lead wires (not shown) is connected to such projecting pieces 23a, 24a, and 25. Although not shown, a female connector to which such a male connector is connected has a configuration corresponding to the shape of the male connector.

[Effect of the invention] According to the invention, as is clear from the above explanation, in a connector in which circuits are connected and disconnected by inserting and removing the male connector into the female connector, the male connector is connected to the female connector. There is no need to pay any consideration to the positional relationship between the female connector and the male connector when they are inserted and connected, which makes it possible to achieve extremely good connection workability between the female connector and the male connector, and to greatly improve the manufacturability of the male connector. It has practical effects such as:

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the female connector and male connector in their connected state, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the connector shell, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the male annular terminal piece, and Figure 4 is an exploded view of the connector housing. Perspective view,
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the female terminal piece. Further, FIGS. 6 and 7 are views corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, showing other embodiments of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a female connector, 2 is a male connector, 3 is a connector shell, 4 is an annular groove part (annular support part),
8 is a male side annular terminal piece, 10 is a connector housing, 11a is an insertion hole, 13 is a female side terminal piece, 14a is a circular hole, 14b is an elastic tongue piece, 18,1
Reference numerals 9 and 20 indicate cylindrical portions (annular support portions).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a connector that connects and disconnects circuits by inserting and extracting a male connector into and out of a female connector, the connector shell of the male connector is formed into a cylindrical shape, and the outer circumference of the connector shell is provided with a line perpendicular to its axial direction. and a plurality of annular support parts formed in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of annular terminals made of a conductive metal and fitted into the annular support parts by a spring force in the direction of diameter reduction. A connector characterized by having a piece.