JPH0574519A - Inspecting method for fit of automotive connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely inspect the fitted condition of a connector for automobiles on the assembly line of automobiles. CONSTITUTION:An inspection spacer 6 pulled out of a spacer storage part is supported by a supporting part 32 and an inspection means 21a detects whether the inspection spacer 6 is supported or not by the moving supporting part 32. Consequently, in the case it is supported by the supporting part 32, it means that both connector housings are normally fitted and in the case it is not supported by the supporting part 32, it means some abnormality e.g. both connector housings are not fitted normally to each other, and further reliable inspection of the fitted condition of the connector becomes possible in the assembly line of automobiles.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile connector fitting inspection method for inspecting whether or not an automobile connector is normally fitted in an assembly line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various methods for inspecting whether or not a connector is completely connected have been proposed. One of them is, for example, a connector connection inspection method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-6631. This is because a guide portion is provided so as to project on the periphery of the opening formed at the connection portion corresponding to the connector housing, and the image pickup means is lowered and positioned along the guide portion. By comparing the pattern-recognized connection state in advance, it is automatically determined whether or not the connector is correctly connected.

However, in this case, since the image pickup means must be installed at a predetermined image pickup position for each connector, the number of work steps is increased, the work efficiency is poor, and the image pickup means and the vertical movement of the image pickup means are required. Because of the need for means, it requires a relatively large work space.

By the way, the applicant of the present invention makes structural changes in the connector depending on whether the connector is properly fitted or abnormally fitted, such as half-fitting, and the connector can be visually or tactually felt to structurally change the structure of the connector. We have previously applied for a connector that can check the fitting state by checking the change and controlling the number of detection spacers per automobile (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-9
No. 9578 (see the application specification and drawings), it is proposed that a simpler inspection be possible as compared with the above-described inspection by the image pickup means.

That is, this connector is constructed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and comprises a female connector housing 1 and a male connector housing 2 which respectively accommodate a female terminal and a male terminal (not shown). Both terminals are connected by fitting the front portion of the female connector housing 1 to the fitting portion 3 in the latter half of the above.

Further, a spacer accommodating portion 5 is provided on the upper side of the terminal accommodating portion 4 of the female connector housing 1, and a separate detecting spacer 6 is inserted from the rear of the spacer accommodating portion 5 to detect the spacer. The tip of 6 is locked at the front of the spacer accommodating portion 5.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the detection spacer 6 extends forward from the base 7 and is integrally formed with two parallel cantilever beam-like elastic locking pieces 8 at the tip thereof. A locking claw 9 that is raised is formed on the
Is formed in an upper portion of the female connector housing 1 and has a groove shape penetrating from the rear to the front, and a locking projection 10 having a locking portion 11 at a front end is a fitting direction at a bottom portion thereof in a front-back direction. Is formed in.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the detection spacer 6 is inserted into the spacer accommodating portion 5 from the rear of the female connector housing 1, the locking claw 9 of the elastic locking piece 8 is locked by the locking projection 10. The engaging spacer 11 at the tip of the
Are locked so that they will not come off, the locking claws 9 in that locking position face a later-described dissociated portion of the male connector housing 2, and the base portion 7 of the detection spacer 6 projects from the rear end of the female connector housing 1. The protruding portion has a shape that functions as a presence confirmation portion when the detection spacer 6 is inserted and a grip portion when the detection spacer 6 is pulled out.

On the other hand, the fitting portion 3 of the male connector housing 2
A tongue-shaped dissociating portion 12 protruding rearward is formed on the front bottom portion of the disengaging portion 12. The disengaging portion 12 engages the engaging claw 9 when the connector housings 1 and 2 are normally fitted. It is provided to disengage from the connector housing 11. When both connector housings 1 and 2 are in a normally fitted state, the distal end 13 (see FIG. 5) of the dissociation portion 12 is close to the locking portion 11 on the male connector housing 2 side. The disengagement portion 12 is opposed to a relative position such that the engagement claw 9 of the elastic engagement piece 8 engaged with the engagement portion 11 is pushed upward to disengage the engagement claw 9 from the engagement portion 11. It has a shape.

At this time, a taper 14 is formed at the front end of the locking claw 9 in a downward and rearward direction so that the disengaging portion 12 can smoothly push up the locking claw 9 (see FIG. 6). , 2, male connector housing 2
Side locking claw 15 and the locking piece 16 on the female connector housing 1 side are provided with a fitting lock mechanism (see FIG. 5). The lock piece 16 is engaged with the connector to lock the connector in the fitted state.

When both the connector housings 1 and 2 are normally fitted, the disengagement portion 1 on the male connector housing 2 side.
The tip 13 of 2 is the engaging portion 1 on the female connector housing 1 side.
1 is slidably contacted with the taper 14 of the locking claw 9 of the detection spacer 6 that is locked to the locking portion 11 and is pushed up by the locking claw 9 of the detection spacer 6. The engagement with the engagement portion 11 is disengaged, and the detection spacer 6 can be pulled out. As shown in FIG. 7, after the both connector housings 1 and 2 are normally fitted, the detection spacer 6 is moved to the spacer accommodating portion 5. The connector in a state where the connector is pulled out from the detector and the detection spacer 6 is not removed is a state where the connector is normally fitted.

Next, in the semi-fitted state in which the fitting amounts of both connector housings 1 and 2 are insufficient, as shown in FIG. 8, the disengagement amount of the dissociation portion 12 to the locking portion 11 is insufficient, Taper 14 of locking claw 9 with distal end 13 of dissociation portion 12 locked
Since the locking claw 9 is not pushed up and is held in the locked state without being pushed up, the detection spacer 6 cannot be pulled out,
The connector that cannot be pulled out when the detection spacer 6 is inserted is the abnormally fitted connector.

Further, a detection spacer 6 for one automobile
You can make a final check by managing the number of.

[0014]

By the way, in the case of such a connector, as described above, the detection spacer 6 can be pulled out and pulled out, or the detection spacer 6 cannot be pulled out and remains inserted. Visually
Although it is possible to inspect the fitting state by checking by tactile sensation and controlling the number of detection spacers 6 per automobile, it is an inspection in a completed vehicle and the connector cannot be specified. When a match occurs, it is very difficult to find the defective part.

In particular, a connector applied to a safety system such as an airbag which requires certainty must be properly fitted, and the fitted state can be inspected more reliably and quickly. Is extremely important.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to more surely and quickly inspect the fitting state of the automobile connector in the automobile assembly line. To aim.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A fitting inspection method for a vehicle connector according to the present invention includes a pair of connector housings that accommodate terminals and are fitted to each other to connect the terminals, and one of the connector housings. And a detection spacer that is inserted into the spacer accommodating portion in the connector fitting direction and that can be pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion when the connector housings are normally fitted. In the method for inspecting the fitting of a connector for a vehicle for inspecting whether the connector is properly fitted at the time of assembling the vehicle, the detection spacer pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion is used together with the vehicle. It is held by a holding unit that moves the assembly line to the Is detected, and when the detection spacer is not held, an alarm is issued by an alarm means that the fitting state of the connector is not normal, and a stop command for the assembly line is output. To do.

[0018]

In the present invention, the detecting spacer pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion is held by the holding portion, and the detecting means detects whether or not the detecting spacer is held by the holding portion. If it is held, it can be seen that both connector housings are properly fitted,
If it is not held in the holding part, it can be seen that some abnormality has occurred such that both connector housings are not mated properly, and the connector mating state in the automobile assembly line can be more reliable and quick. Inspection becomes possible.

[0019]

1 is a block diagram of an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, since the structure of the connector is as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, further description is omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 21a, 21b, and 21c are, for example, photocouplers, and detection means for detecting whether or not the detection spacer 6 is held by a holding portion which will be described later.
Reference numeral 2 is a signal processing unit for receiving and processing the output signals of the detection means 21a, 21b, 21c, and 23 is a processing unit 22.
The determination unit that determines whether or not the detection spacer 6 is held in the holding unit based on the result of the signal processing by 24, the monitoring unit that monitors the determination result of the determination unit 23, that is, the presence or absence of the detection spacer 6, and the determination unit 23 is 25. When the detection spacer 6 is determined not to be held by the holding portion, an alarm means for issuing an alarm and outputting a stop command for the automobile assembly line, and 26 is the presence or absence of the detection spacer 6 determined by the determination portion 23. A storage unit that stores data.

At this time, it is assumed that three detecting means are provided, for example, assuming that three connectors are to be inspected for one automobile, and three detecting means 21a, 21b corresponding to each connector. , 21c are provided, and by associating the connector with the detection means in this way,
It is possible to identify a connector that has a poor mating among a plurality of connectors.

When inspecting the fitting condition of the connector in the automobile assembly line by such an inspection device, as shown in FIG. 2, the holding portion 32 that moves in the arrow direction along with the automobile 31 along the assembly line. Is provided,
With this holding portion 32, the connector 33 fitted normally
The detection spacer 6 pulled out from the holding spacer 6 is held, and in detail, as shown in FIG. 3, a concave hole 34 having a shape in which the base portion 7 of the detection spacer 6 is fitted in the central portion of the upper surface of the holding portion 32. After the detection spacer 6 is pulled out from the connector 33 in which both connector housings 1 and 2 are normally fitted, the base portion 7 of the detection spacer 6 is fitted into the concave hole 34 of the holding portion 32. The detection spacer 6 is held by the holding portion 32.

At this time, in FIG. 2 and FIG.
Although only one is shown, the connector 3 to be inspected
Since 3 is assumed to be 3 as described above, 3 holders 32 are arranged in parallel in the moving direction at a predetermined interval.

Next, when the holding portion 32 moves along the assembly line with the automobile 31 while holding the detection spacer 6 in this way and reaches the installation position of the detection means 21a, 21b, 21c, it is shown in FIG. As described above, the holding portion 32 passes between the light emitting and light receiving portions of each detecting means 21a, and at this time, the detection spacer 6 held by the holding portion 32 blocks the light projected from the light emitting portion of the detecting means 21a to the light receiving portion. It can be seen from the change in the received light signal at this time that the detection spacer 6 is held.

By the way, although only the detecting means 21a is shown in FIG. 3, the other detecting means 21b, 21c are also installed at the same intervals as the respective holding portions 32, and the detecting means 21a, 21b, 21c are used. At the same time, whether or not the holding spacer 32 holds the detection spacer 6 is detected, and if the holding spacer 32 is not held, by identifying which holding portion 32 it is, the connector with a poor fitting can be specified.

Next, a series of inspection procedures will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, an operator fits the connector housings 1 and 2 of the respective connectors in an automobile assembly line (step S1). At this time, if the fitting state is normal, the detection spacer 6 can be pulled out. , After the detection spacers 6 are respectively pulled out (step S2),
The base portion 7 of each of the detection spacers 6 that has been pulled out is attached to each holding portion 32.
The detection spacers 6 are fitted into the concave holes 34 of the respective holders 32 and held by the holding portions 32 (step S3).

When the holding parts 32 holding the detection spacers 6 are moved along the assembly line with the automobile 31 (step S4) and reach the installation positions of the detection means 21a to 21c, the detection means 21a to 21c are detected. It is detected by each of the holding portions 32 whether or not the detection spacer 6 is held (step S5), and the detection means 21a to 21c.
Is processed by the signal processing unit 22, and the presence or absence of the detection spacer 6, that is, whether the detection spacer 6 is held or not is determined based on the output of the processing unit 22 (step S6). Since it can be determined that the fitting state of the connector is normal, the fact that the fitting state of the connector is normal is displayed on the monitor unit 24 (step S7).

On the other hand, if the connector is not held, it can be determined that the fitting state of the connector is not normal and the detection spacer 6 is still attached without being pulled out. Therefore, the alarm means 25 issues an alarm (step S8). ), An assembly line stop command is output, and the assembly line control means stops the assembly line based on this command (step S9). After the processes of steps S7 and S9, step S1 is executed again.
Then, the inspection of the connector of the next automobile is repeated.

Therefore, the detection spacer 6 which can be pulled out by the normal fitting of the connector is pulled out, fitted and held in the holding portion 32, and the detection spacer 6 is held in the holding portion 32 by the detecting means 21a to 21c. If the detection spacer 6 is held in the holding portion 32, it can be determined that the two connector housings 1 and 2 are properly fitted, and if the detection spacer 6 is not held in the holding portion 32. Since it can be seen that the two connector housings 1 and 2 are not fitted properly, it is possible to more reliably and quickly inspect the fitted state of the connectors in the automobile assembly line.

In the above embodiment, the case where the photocoupler is used as the detecting means has been described, but it goes without saying that the invention is not particularly limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the number of connectors to be inspected is three, but it may be one, two, or four or more.

Further, when there are a plurality of connectors, each of the connectors may be sequentially inspected by one detecting means to sequentially judge whether the fitting state is good or bad, and the connector having the bad fitting is specified. It is possible. ..

Further, the method of holding the detection spacer 6 by the holding portion 32 is not limited to the fitting of the base portion 7 in the concave hole 34 described above.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, whether the detection spacer pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion is held by the holding portion and whether the detection spacer is held by the holding portion which is moving by the detecting means. Therefore, it is possible to more surely and quickly inspect the fitted state of the connector in the automobile assembly line, and it is extremely effective for the inspection of the connector applied to the safety system such as the airbag.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an inspection apparatus in an embodiment of an automobile connector fitting inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway right side view of the connector to be inspected according to the present invention in a separated state.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a connector to be inspected according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway right side view of a connector to be inspected according to the present invention in a normally fitted state.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway right side view of a connector to be inspected according to the present invention in a semi-fitted state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Female Connector Housing 2 Male Connector Housing 5 Spacer Housing 6 Detecting Spacers 21a, 21b, 21c Detecting Means 25 Alarm Means 31 Automobiles 32 Holding Parts 33 Connectors

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of connector housings for accommodating terminals and accommodating each other to connect the terminals, a spacer accommodating portion formed in one of the connector housings, and a connector fitting direction in the spacer accommodating portion. A connector for a vehicle, which is inserted in the connector housing and is fitted into the spacer housing part so that the connector spacer can be pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion, and whether the connector is properly fitted when the vehicle is assembled. In a method for inspecting whether or not a connector for an automobile is inspected, the detection spacer pulled out from the spacer accommodating portion is held by a holding portion that moves along an assembly line together with the automobile, and is being moved by a detecting means. Detects whether or not the detection spacer is held in the holding portion, and if the detection spacer is not held A fitting inspection method of an automotive connector, characterized in that the fitting state of the connector outputs a stop instruction of the assembly line with issuing an alarm by alarm means as not normal.