JPH1041014A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a connector from being left in an incomplete fitting state with a simple structure. SOLUTION: A lock portion 14 with a sharp tip is provided on a lock piece 12, while an engaging portion 17 is provided with a vertex 18 and is formed into mountain-like. A dome 22 which can be deflection deformed is formed outward the tip of the lock piece 12. Even if the pushing-in of a female housing F is interrupted on the way to be likely left in an incomplete fitting state, the lock piece 12 tires to store to the original attitude by self restoring elastic force and the restoring elastic force of the ceiling face 24 of the dome 22, and the lock portion 14 falls down on a steep slope 20 side on the other side, or slides down along a gentle slope 19 on this side. When the same falls down on the other side, the female housing F is normally fitted to be locked as being drawn. When the same slides down on this side the female housing F is returned as the lock portion 14 moves to the foot of the gentle slope 19. In this state, the terminal metal fittings 2, 7 of both housings M, F are not connected mutually, but are in a separated state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a function of preventing a connector housing from being left in a half-fitted state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As means for locking a pair of connector housings in a proper fitting state, one connector housing is provided with a tiltable lock piece, and the lock piece is provided on a mating connector housing while tilting. It is publicly known that it is locked by being moved back and locked by a locking portion after passing through a stop portion. However,
In some cases, the lock piece stays on the locking portion and is not locked, that is, the lock piece is left in a half-fitted state. Particularly, in a connector provided in an important circuit or the like, the lock piece is held in such a half-fitted state. We must definitely avoid the situation. Therefore, conventionally, means for detecting whether or not the connector is properly fitted to the connector is provided.
For example, mounting the detection pin on the housing so that the detection pin protrudes only when both housings are properly fitted, or by inserting a detection piece between both housings after fitting both housings, The fitting state is detected based on the inserted state.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, a detection member of a separate piece from the connector housing was required, and the structure of the housing was not desired to be complicated. The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reliably prevent connector housings from being left in a half-fitted state without a special detection member. To be able to do it.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a lock portion is provided at one end of one of a pair of connector housings fitted to each other. The lock pieces are tiltably provided, and the lock portions of the lock pieces pass through the lock portions provided on the mating connector housing and are locked, so that both connector housings are locked in a proper fitting state. In the connector, the locking portion is formed in a chevron shape having an apex, and where the locking portion of the lock piece corresponds to the apex of the locking portion, either the other side or the near side of the apex is provided. In the state where the lock portion is slid down to the near side of the apex, the terminal fittings housed in both connector housings are set to be in a disconnected state while the lock portion is slid down to the near side of the apex. Having the features in the place.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the lock piece comes in contact with the lock piece at an outer position on the distal end side thereof to assist the return movement of the lock piece by elastic force. The feature is that the assisting member is provided.

[0006]

Function and Effect of the Invention

<Invention of Claim 1> Even if the fitting operation is interrupted in a state in which the lock portion of the lock piece rides on the lock portion, the lock portion is moved backward while the lock piece moves backward from the top of the lock portion. Slide down to one of the near sides. If the lock portion slides down beyond the top of the locking portion, the housing is properly fitted and locked while being retracted. On the other hand, if you slide down,
The terminal fittings of both housings are disconnected from each other while the housings are returned, and the two housings are separated from each other.
That is, the two housings are properly fitted and locked, or are completely separated from each other, and are prevented from being left in a semi-fitted state. In addition, there is an effect that it is possible to cope with this with a simple structure in which the locking portion is simply formed in a mountain shape.

<Invention of Claim 2> The lock piece tilts while elastically deforming the assisting member. Therefore, when the lock portion slides down while the lock piece moves backward, the elasticity of the assisting member is assisted in addition to the restoring elasticity of the lock piece itself, and the sliding operation of the lock portion can be performed more reliably.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
A description will be given with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a connector according to this embodiment has a male connector housing M (hereinafter simply referred to as a male housing) that is fitted to each other.
And a female connector housing F (hereinafter simply referred to as a female housing). The male housing M is formed so as to protrude directly from a synthetic resin device such as an engine accessory, and is formed in a substantially square cylindrical shape with a bottom with an open front surface serving as a fitting surface, and the inside is fitted. A plurality of male terminal fittings 2 are aligned and protruded from the inner surface of the recess 1.

The female housing F is also formed of a synthetic resin material, and has a hood 4 having a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape around the front end of the main body 3. The above-described male housing M is fitted inside the hood portion 4 so that the front end side of the main body portion 3 protrudes into the fitting concave portion 1. A plurality of cavities 5 are formed in the main body 3 so as to be aligned with the male terminal fittings 2 of the male housing M. In each of the cavities 5, a female mold fixed to the end of the electric wire 6 is formed. The terminal fitting 7 is inserted from the rear surface side, is locked by a lance 8 provided in the cavity 5, and is housed in a retaining state. A waterproof rubber plug 9 is fixed to the rear end of each female terminal fitting 7 to seal the entrance of each cavity 5 and a rubber is provided around the main body 3 on the back side inside the hood 4. Ring 10 is attached,
When the housings M and F are fitted, the rubber ring 10 is sandwiched between the housing M and the peripheral wall of the male housing M, thereby sealing between the housings M and F.

A lock mechanism is provided between the housings M and F to lock them in a properly fitted state. Therefore, a lock piece 12 is provided at the center in the width direction on the upper surface of the female housing F. The lock piece 12 is formed in an elongated shape in the front-rear direction, and its base end (the right side in FIG. 1) is connected to the main body 3 via a fulcrum 13 that can be elastically deformed. The tip side can be tilted so as to face diagonally upward while being deformed. A lock portion 14 protrudes downward from the tip of the lock piece 12, and the tip of the lock portion 14 is formed sharp.

On the other hand, a pair of guide walls 16 are erected on the upper surface of the male housing M at a predetermined interval, between which the distal end of the lock piece 12 can enter. At a position between the two guide walls 16, a locking portion 17 that can be locked to the locking portion 14 of the locking piece 12 is protruded.
The locking portion 17 is formed in a mountain shape having an apex 18, and the slopes on both sides of the apex 18 are gentle slopes on the near side (the right side in FIG. 1) when viewed from the mating direction of the female housing F of the other party. 19 and a steep slope 20 on the other side.

That is, the female housing F is replaced with the male housing M
The locking portion 14 of the locking piece 12
When the lock piece 12 is tilted so as to lift the distal end side while climbing on the locking portion 17 along the gentle slope 19 by contacting the female housing F (see FIG. 3), and the female housing F is pushed in a regular amount, the locking portion 14 is moved. Since the lock piece 12 is restored to the original position, the lock portion 14 is
Is locked on the steep slope 20 side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the distal end of the male terminal fitting 2 enters the corresponding female terminal fitting 7 so that the male and female terminal fittings 2 and 7 are properly fitted to each other. . On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the lock portion 14 of the lock piece 12 is located at the bottom of the gentle slope 19 of the locking portion 17, the male and female terminal fittings 2, 7 are not fitted. In state.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hood portion 4 of the female housing F is formed with a dome 22 with a central portion in the width direction of the upper surface raised by one step. The side protrudes into the dome 22, and the guide wall 16 of the male housing M enters inside the left and right side walls 23 of the dome 22. The ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22 is the lock piece 1 in the original posture.
It is spaced apart by a predetermined distance above the front end of the second and is elastically deformable. More specifically, the locking portion 14 is locked by the locking portion 17 with the fitting operation of the housings M and F.
When the lock piece 12 is tilted by climbing on the gentle slope 19 of the above, the top surface of the tip of the lock piece 12 comes into contact with the ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22 just before the lock portion 14 reaches the vicinity of the vertex 18,
The lock piece 12 can be allowed to further tilt while flexing and deforming the ceiling surface 24.

The present embodiment has the above structure,
Subsequently, the operation will be described. The fitting operation is performed by pushing the female housing F into the male housing M as shown by the arrow in FIG. When the female housing F is pushed in, the lock portion 14 of the lock piece 12 abuts on the gentle slope 19 on the front side of the locking portion 17 in the middle of the push, and the lock portion 14 rides along the gentle slope 19, whereby the lock piece 1
2 tilts so that the tip side is lifted while elastically deforming the fulcrum portion 13, and when reaching the vicinity of the vertex 18, tilts while further deforming the ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22 as shown in FIG. 3. When the female housing F is pushed in a regular amount,
Since the locking portion 14 exceeds the vertex 18 of the locking portion 17, the locking piece 12 is restored to the original posture by its own restoring elasticity and the restoring elasticity of the ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22.
4 is locked by being locked to the steep slope 20 side of the locking portion 17.

In the above-mentioned fitting operation, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the pushing of the female housing F is interrupted in a state where the lock piece 12 has climbed up to the peak 18 of the ridge of the locking portion 17, that is, half-fitting. Even if you try to stay in a state,
Since the locking portion 17 is formed in a chevron shape having an apex 18, the locking piece 12 tries to restore the original posture by receiving its own restoring elasticity and the restoring elasticity of the ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22. Falls down on the steep slope 20 on the other side as shown in FIG. 4 or slides down along the gentle slope 19 on the near side as shown in FIG.

In the above, the locking portion 14 is
Of the female housing F, the female housing F is properly fitted and locked while being retracted. on the other hand,
When the female housing F slides down to the front side, the female housing F is returned to the front side while the lock portion 14 moves to the bottom along the gentle slope 19. In this state, the terminal fittings 2 and 7 of the housings M and F are not connected to each other, so that no coupling force is generated between the housings M and F. For example, even if the female housing F is slightly pulled, the female housing F is connected to the male housing M. Fall out of. Of course, even when the fitting is interrupted in a state in which the lock portion 14 has climbed up to the middle position of the gentle slope 19, the lock piece 12 returns to the original posture and the lock portion
Slides down to the bottom of the gentle slope 19, and both housings M and F
Are separated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
The housings M and F are properly fitted and locked, or are completely separated from each other, so that they are reliably prevented from being left in a semi-fitted state. Moreover, it is possible to cope with this by simply changing the shape such as forming the locking portion 17 into a mountain shape and sharpening the tip of the locking portion 14.

When the lock portion 14 is slid down to the hem on the front side of the locking portion 17, the terminal fittings 2 and 7 of both housings M and F must be in a non-contact state.
It is necessary to take a large stroke from the front to the front hem, and if the stroke is to be restored only by the restoring elasticity of the lock piece 12 itself, the peak of the locking portion 17 is raised and the lock piece 12 is charged. It is necessary to increase the elasticity of the lock piece 12, and the load on the lock piece 12 also increases. In this regard, in this embodiment, in order to return the lock piece 12 to the original posture, the restoring elasticity of the ceiling surface 24 of the dome 22 is used together. Compactness can be achieved, and the lock piece 12 does not need to be made more robust than necessary.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) The present invention is not limited to the arm-type lock piece exemplified in the above-described embodiment, and is similarly applied to a device having a seesaw-shaped lock piece that is swingably supported at a central portion in a length direction. be able to. (2) Contrary to the above embodiment, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the lock piece is provided on the male housing side and the locking portion is provided on the female housing side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before fitting of a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a half-fitted state.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a properly fitted and locked state.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the female housing is returned.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M: Male housing F: Female housing 2: Male terminal fitting 7: Female terminal fitting 12: Lock piece 14: Locking part 17: Locking part 18: Apex 19: Slope 20: Steep slope 22: Dome 24 ... (Dome 22) Ceiling surface (assisting member)

Claims (2)

[Claims] A lock piece provided with a lock portion on the distal end side is tiltably provided on one of a pair of connector housings fitted to each other, and the lock portion of the lock piece is attached to a mating connector housing. The connector is configured to lock both connector housings in a regular fitting state by being locked by passing through the provided locking portion, wherein the locking portion is formed in a mountain shape having a vertex, Where the lock portion of the lock piece corresponds to the apex of the locking portion, it slides down to either the other side or the near side of the apex, and the lock portion slides down to the near side of the apex. The connector is characterized in that, in the state, the terminal fittings housed in both connector housings are set in a disconnected state. 2. An outer position on the tip side of the lock piece,
2. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising an assisting member that abuts on the lock piece and assists the return movement of the lock piece by an elastic force.