JP3111170B2 - Insertion and removal of connector terminals - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of inserting / removing a terminal for a connector, which facilitates the operation of inserting / removing a terminal from / to a cavity of a connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrical junction box used for branch connection of a wiring harness for automobiles to various electric components is provided with branch connection points concentrated at one place, and wiring is rationally and economically connected. With the increase in the density of wire harnesses, various types have been developed according to vehicle types or applications.

[0003] On the outer wall of the electric junction box as described above, FIG.
A fixed connector 2 as shown in FIG.
A movable connector 3 to which a wire harness is connected is connected to the fixed connector 2.

A large number of bus bars 5 are arranged in the electric connection box 1 via insulating plates 4, and the ends of the connection terminals 5 a,..., 5 a bent from each bus bar 5 are fitted into the connector of the fixed connector 2. It faces the coupling surface 2b of the portion 2a.

[0005] As described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-40083, a connection terminal 7a (only a part is shown) connected to a wire harness is provided in the movable connector 3, and the tip of the connection terminal 7a is connected to the wire harness. It faces the coupling surface 3b of the movable connector 3. The movable connector 3 is slidably supported in a coupling / anti-coupling direction in a frame-shaped holder 6, and is locked and held at a predetermined sliding position by support lances 6 a provided on both sides of the holder 6. ing.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the holder 6 is gripped and moved in the connecting direction, the movable connector 3 is inserted into the connector fitting portion 2a of the fixed connector 2, and the movable connector 3 is connected. When the surface 3b abuts on the coupling surface 2b of the fixed connector 2, the connection terminals 5a and 7a of the connectors 2 and 3 are electrically connected to each other.

[0007] The swinging lever 9 is supported on the movable connector 3 by a fulcrum pin 8, and the power point pin 10 of the swinging lever 9 is engaged with the guide groove 3 c of the movable connector 3 to connect the movable connector 3 to the fixed connector. 2, the movable connector 3 can also reduce the coupling insertion force by engaging the action point guide groove 9a of the swing lever 9 with the action point pin 11 of the fitting portion 2a of the fixed connector 2.

[0008]

However, the work of inserting and removing the connection terminal 7a of the wire harness into and from the cavity of the movable connector 3, as shown in FIG. In the state in which the holder 6 is locked and held at the predetermined slide position by the support lances 6a, 6a, since the inside of the holder 6 is narrow, the rear end portion 7b of the connection terminal 7a can be gripped to perform insertion / removal work. Since the wire harness cannot be bent during insertion as shown in the figure, insertion work becomes difficult. Also, at the time of detachment, the wire harness is pulled, but the detachment work is difficult to perform because the connection terminal 7a is located at the back.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), after releasing the holding of the movable connector 3 by the support lances 6a, 6a of the holder 6 by hand, the movable connector 3 is manually slid in the anti-coupling direction. In this state, the rear end portion 7b of the connection terminal 7a is gripped to perform the insertion / removal operation, so that there is a problem that workability is poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of inserting and detaching a terminal for a connector which can easily insert and detach the terminal into and from a cavity of the connector. It is.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention locks and holds a movable connector supported by a holder at a predetermined position with a support lance of the holder, and moves the holder in the connecting direction. While connecting the movable connector to the mating connector while releasing the locking retention of the movable connector by the support lance, the movable connector is moved together with the holder in the connecting direction to be connected to the mating connector, The movable connector is coupled to the mating connector using a mating connector having a mating surface with which the mating surface of the movable connector abuts and a locking portion for locking the holder, and the holder is engaged with the mating connector. In the stopped state, the terminal is inserted or removed from the cavity of the movable connector. · Withdrawal method is intended to provide.

According to the present invention, when the mating connector is prepared and the movable connector is coupled to the mating connector by grasping the holder, the locking of the movable connector by the support lance is automatically released. At the same time, the movable connector is automatically slid in the anti-coupling direction by the movement of the holder in the coupling direction, and the holder is locked to the mating connector.

This eliminates the need to manually release the holding of the movable connector holder by the support lance and to manually slide the movable connector in the anti-coupling direction, thereby facilitating the operation of inserting and removing the connection terminal. Since it can be performed, workability is improved.

Further, by using the mating connector, there is no need to make a special jig or tool, so that the cost of assembling the wire harness is reduced.

Furthermore, the mating connector may be a connector provided in an electric connection box or the like, or a connector dedicated to a jig having at least the coupling surface and a locking portion. it can.

According to this configuration, if an existing connector provided in an electric connection box or the like is used as the mating connector, there is no need to make a mating connector for a jig, so that the cost is reduced.

When a connector dedicated to a jig having at least a coupling surface and a locking portion is used as a mating connector, it can be used as a conduction jig when applied in a connector continuity inspection step. As a result, the cost of wire harness inspection equipment is reduced.

[0018]

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

The parts having the same structure and operation as those of the prior art shown in FIG. 2 and subsequent figures are given the same numbers, and detailed explanations are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mating connector 12
Has the same outer shape as the connector portion of the electric connection box 1 shown in FIG. 2A, but the connection terminal 5a of the bus bar 5 faces the coupling surface 12b of the connector fitting portion 12a of the mating connector 12. Not.

The coupling surface 12 of the connector fitting portion 12a
b, a through hole 12d into which the support lance 6a of the holder 6 projects is formed, and the connector fitting portion 12a has a locking projection 12 locking the locking recess 6b of the holder 6.
c is formed, and an action point pin 11 that engages with the swing lever 9 of the movable connector 3 is provided. In other words, only the outer shape is the same dummy connector.

The mating connector 12 configured as described above
The procedure for inserting and removing the connection terminal 7a of the wire harness from the movable connector 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, each support lance 2 of the holder 6 holds a movable connector 3 at a predetermined position.

In this state, when the holder 6 is gripped and moved in the coupling direction with the mating connector 12, the movable connector 3 is inserted into the connector fitting portion 12a of the mating connector 12, and the coupling surface of the movable connector 3 is connected. 3b comes into contact with the coupling surface 12b of the mating connector 12.

Before the coupling surface 3b of the movable connector 3 comes into contact with the coupling surface 12b of the mating connector 12, the support lances 6a, 6a are deflected outward to release the retaining of the movable connector 3. , Movable connector 3 with holder 6
Is moved in the connecting direction via the swing lever 9, the locking concave portion 6 b of the holder 6 is locked by the locking convex portion 12 c of the connector fitting portion 12 a of the mating connector 12, and the holder 6 is moved to the mating connector 12. Will be locked.

As described above, the mating connector 12
Then, when the movable connector 3 is coupled by grasping the holder 6, the retaining of the movable connector 3 by the support lance 2 is released, and the movable connector 3 is automatically moved in the opposite coupling direction by the movement of the holder 6 in the coupling direction. The holder 6 is locked to the mating connector 12.

Therefore, as in the prior art, the movable connector 3
It is not necessary to manually release the holding of the holder 6 by the support lance 2 or manually slide the movable connector 3 in the anti-coupling direction, so that the work of inserting and removing the connection terminal 7a connected to the wire harness is easy. Workability is improved.

Also, by using the mating connector 12, there is no need to make a special jig or tool, so that the cost of wire harness assembly equipment is reduced.

Further, when a connector dedicated to a jig having at least the coupling surface 12b and the locking projection 12c is used as the mating connector 12, a continuity inspection terminal is provided on the coupling surface 12b, and the continuity inspection process of the connector is performed. If applied, the wire harness inspection equipment can be inexpensive because it can be shared as a conduction jig.

When the existing connector 2 provided in the electric connection box 1 or the like as shown in FIG. 2 is used as the mating connector 12, there is no need to make the mating connector 12 for a jig. , Become cheaper.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, the method for inserting and removing a connector terminal according to the present invention uses a mating connector to release the locking and holding of the movable connector by the support lance and to release the holder. The movable connector is automatically slid in the anti-coupling direction by moving in the coupling direction, so the locking retention of the movable connector holder by the support lance can be released by hand, or the movable connector in the anti-coupling direction by hand. Since there is no need to slide, the work of inserting and removing the connection terminal can be easily performed, and the workability is improved.

In addition, by using the mating connector, it is not necessary to make a special jig and tool, so that the cost of assembling the wire harness is reduced.

Further, when an existing connector provided in an electric connection box or the like is used as the mating connector as in claim 2, there is no need to make a mating connector for a jig, so that the cost is reduced. Become.

When a connector dedicated to a jig is used as a mating connector, if it is applied in a connector continuity inspection step, it can be shared as a continuity jig, so that wire harness inspection equipment can also be manufactured at low cost. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mating connector of the present invention, in which (A) is a plan sectional view before coupling and (B) is a plan sectional view after coupling.

FIG. 2A is a connection structure of a mating connector and a movable connector, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional plan view before connection, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional plan view after connection.

3A is a plan cross-sectional view showing a procedure for inserting and removing a connection terminal from and into a movable connector locked and held by a support lance, and FIG. 3B is a plan view showing a connection terminal on a movable connector slid in an anti-coupling direction; FIG. 4 is a plan cross-sectional view showing how to insert / remove a.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric connection box 3 Movable connector 6 Holder 6a Supporting lance 6b Locking convex part 12 Mating connector 12b Coupling surface 12c Locking convex part

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-9-306589 (JP, A) JP-A-2-12784 (JP, A) JP-A-8-273750 (JP, A) JP-A-9-17500 (JP, A) JP-A-8-273749 (JP, A) JP-A-8-115766 (JP, A) JP-A-9-306587 (JP, A) (58) Fields studied (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB (Name) H01R 13/56-13/72 H01R 43/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A movable connector supported by a holder is locked and held at a predetermined position by a support lance of the holder, and when the movable connector is coupled to a mating connector while moving the holder in the coupling direction, the support lance is used. In the connector in which the movable connector is released from the holding state by moving the movable connector together with the holder in the connecting direction to be connected to the mating connector, the connecting surface where the connecting surface of the movable connector abuts, and the holder A movable connector is coupled to a mating connector using a mating connector having a locking portion for locking, and a terminal is provided in the cavity of the movable connector in a state where the holder is locked to the mating connector. A method for inserting / removing a connector terminal, comprising inserting / removing a connector. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the mating connector is a connector provided in an electric connection box or the like, or a connector dedicated to a jig having at least the coupling surface and a locking portion.
Insertion / removal method of connector terminal described in 4.