JP3193271B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector structure, and more particularly, to a connector that double-locks connection terminals by fitting a retainer into a connector housing (hereinafter simply referred to as a housing).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A connector is used for connection between wire harnesses mounted on an automobile or the like or connection between a wire harness and an electric device. This connector holds a connection terminal connected to the end of the electric wire in a resin housing, and the connection terminal and the connection terminal held in the mating housing are fitted by mating with the mating connector. By doing so, they are electrically connected. In this case, the connection terminals held in the housings are double-locked so as not to come out of the respective housings. A double locking structure of the connector for preventing the connection terminals from being detached is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-64-45076.

[0005] As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a terminal accommodating chamber 13 into which a connection terminal 12 is inserted is formed in a housing 10, and the connection terminal 12 is inserted to a predetermined position in the terminal accommodation chamber 13. The projection 14a of the flexible locking lance 14 is locked in the recess of the connection terminal 12. Thereby, the connection terminal 12 is positioned at a predetermined position. Next, after the retainer 16 is fitted into the housing 10, the retainer 16 is rotated by 90 ° (see FIG. 6), and the protrusion 16 a of the retainer 16 is rotated.
As a result, the connection terminal 14 is locked. As a result, the connection terminal 12 is double-locked in the housing 10.

[0004]

However, the locking lance 1 formed in the terminal accommodating chamber 13 of the housing 10.
Since the shape of 4 is complicated, there is a problem that the shape of a mold for molding the housing 10 becomes complicated, which causes an increase in cost.

When the connection terminal 12 is pulled out of the housing 10, a special jig is inserted into the housing 10 to release the locking state between the projection 14 a of the locking lance 14 and the connection terminal 12. The lance 14 must be forcibly depressed. At this time, the connection terminal 12 is
However, there is a problem that the locking lance 14 is deformed or damaged or damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems. In a connector in which a connection terminal is double-locked in a housing, a mold for molding the housing is simplified and deformation of the connection terminal is prevented. It is to provide a connector which can be used.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a connection terminal which is connected to an end of a wire and has two locking portions.
When the connection terminal is inserted, a first lock portion is formed to abut against one of the first locking portions of the connection terminal to restrict the pushing of the connection terminal and to position the connection terminal at a predetermined position. A housing in which a second lock portion is formed to be locked to the stop portion to prevent the connection terminal from slipping off, and the connection terminal inserted into the housing is held at a lock position and one of the first engagement members of the connection terminal is formed. And a retainer for holding the stop portion in contact with the first lock portion.

Further, the above object is achieved by providing a positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal contacts the first locking portion.

The above object is achieved by forming a part of a terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing, and guiding the connection terminal.

Further, the above object is achieved by forming a guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal in a fitting hole of the housing which is an insertion opening of the connection terminal.

The above object is achieved by forming a step for locking the first locking portion of the connection terminal at the front end of the retainer.

Further, the above object is achieved by forming a cutout recess through which the front end of the connection terminal is inserted in the first lock portion.

[0013]

According to the connector having the above configuration according to the present invention,
When the connection terminal is inserted into the housing in a state where the retainer is inserted from below the housing and is temporarily locked, the first locking portion of the connection terminal abuts and locks the first lock portion in the housing. . Next, the connection terminal is pushed up by moving the retainer from the temporary locking state to the full locking state, so that the second locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the second locking portion in the housing, and the first engaging portion is locked. The connection terminal is double-locked in the housing by the locking portion being locked to the retainer. Therefore,
Since the connection terminal is double-locked by the movement of the retainer, the first lock portion and the second lock portion can be formed in a simple shape, and a lock lance having a complicated shape as in the related art is not required. Therefore, manufacturing costs can be reduced. Also, since the connection terminal can be pulled out of the housing simply by retracting the retainer from the lock position, there is no need to press down the locking lance with a dedicated jig as in the conventional case, and the workability during maintenance is improved. Can be.

[0014] Further, a positioning groove is provided for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal comes into contact with the first locking portion. Are locked in the positioning grooves. Therefore, the connection terminal can be reliably positioned at the predetermined position in a state where the connection terminal can move only in the moving direction of the retainer.

Further, when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing, the first locking portion of the connection terminal forms a part of the terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guides the connection terminal. The upper end surface of the retainer slides until it comes into contact with one lock portion. Therefore, a stable operation of inserting the connection terminal can be obtained.

Further, since the guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed in the fitting hole of the housing which is the insertion opening of the connection terminal, the operation of inserting the connection terminal can be performed reliably and easily. Can be.

Also, a first connection terminal is provided at the front end of the retainer.
Since the step for locking the locking portion is formed, the first locking portion of the connection terminal can be reliably locked by moving the retainer from the temporary locking state to the full locking state.

Further, since the first locking portion is formed with a cutout recess through which the front end of the connecting terminal is inserted, the retainer moves with the front end of the first locking portion of the connecting terminal locked. The connection terminal can be reliably moved.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the connector according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view showing a temporarily locked state of the retainer in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are operation explanatory diagrams showing the state of the final locking of the retainer. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 30 includes a housing 32, a male terminal 34 and a retainer 36. A plurality of fitting holes 38 are provided in a rear end portion 32 a of the housing 32. This fitting hole 38
Guide grooves 38a, 38a are formed on both sides of the.

Further, in front of the fitting hole 38, the terminal accommodating chamber 4 is provided.
0 is formed. The terminal accommodating chamber 40 is opened at the front end portion 32c of the housing 32,
It is communicated with 8. A positioning plate 42 as a first lock portion is provided substantially at the center of the terminal accommodating chamber 40. The positioning plates 42 are erected at the bottom of the housing 32 so as to face the fitting holes 38, respectively. The positioning plate 42 has a slit-shaped notch 42 a formed at a position facing the fitting hole 38. Thereby, the rear end portion 32 of the housing 32
When a male terminal 34 described later is inserted into the fitting hole 38 from a, the distal end of the male terminal 34 fits into the notch 42a of the positioning plate 42.

An opening 44 is formed at the bottom of the housing 32 between the positioning plate 42 and the fitting hole 38. The opening 44 communicates with the terminal accommodating chamber 40, and a retainer 36 described later is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44. A positioning hole 46a for locking the retainer 36 at the temporary locking position and a lock hole 46b for locking the retainer 36 at the full locking position are formed in both side portions 32b of the housing 32 forming the terminal accommodating chamber 40. Have been.

Further, on the upper part 32 d of the housing 32 forming the terminal accommodating chamber 40, there is formed a ridge 48 as a second lock portion projecting into the terminal accommodating chamber 40. The protruding ridge portion 48 is located substantially in the middle between the positioning plate 42 and the fitting hole 38, and extends continuously from one side 32 b of the housing 32 so as to be orthogonal to the fitting hole 38. Further, a flexible piece 33 for urging the male terminal 34 is formed on an upper portion 32d of the housing 32. That is, the flexible piece 33 prevents the rear part of the male terminal 34 in the temporarily locked state from rising, etc., by pressing the male terminal 34 inserted into the fitting hole 38.

The above-mentioned male terminal 34 has an electric wire W at its rear end.
Are connected by crimping, and positioning locking pieces 52, 52, which are first locking portions, are formed on both sides of the center so as to be bent downward. Projections 34a, 34a are formed in front of the positioning locking pieces 52, 52, and a positioning groove 34b is formed between the projection 34a and the positioning locking piece 52. In addition, retaining locking pieces 54, 54, which are second locking portions, are formed in a state of being bent upward behind the positioning locking pieces 52, 52.

The retainer 36 described above is connected to the housing 32
It is formed in a rectangular block shape so as to be able to fit into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44. When the retainer 36 is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40, the retainer 3
6 is in contact with the positioning plate 42, and the rear end 36b of the retainer 36 is the rear end 32 of the terminal accommodating chamber 40.
Contact e. Further, a step portion 51 for locking the male terminal 34 is formed at an upper front end of the retainer 36,
Locking projections 53 for locking are formed on both sides of the retainer 36.

The locking projection 53 fits into a positioning hole 46a for positioning the retainer 36 fitted in the terminal accommodating chamber 40 at the temporary locking position, and a lock for positioning the retainer 36 at the final locking position. It is fitted in the hole 46b.

The operation of the connector configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the retainer 36 is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44 of the housing 32, and the locking projection 53 of the retainer 36 is
1 until it is fitted into the positioning hole 46a of FIG.
reference). At this time, the retainer 36 is positioned at the temporary locking position as shown in FIG.
Are flush with the guide grooves 38a, 38a formed in the fitting holes 38. Next, when the male terminal 34 is inserted while being urged by the flexible piece 33 from the fitting hole 38 opened in the rear end portion 32a of the housing 32, the positioning locking pieces 52, 5
2 is fitted into the guide grooves 38a of the fitting hole 38.

From this state, the male terminal 34 is connected to the housing 3.
2, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 of the male terminal 34 are brought into contact with the guide grooves 38 a, 38 of the fitting hole 38.
a and the upper end 36 c of the retainer 36. Then, the tip of the male terminal 34 is inserted through the cutout recess 42 a of the positioning plate 42, and the protrusions 34 a, 34 a of the male terminal 34 get over the positioning plate 42.
As a result, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 come into contact with the positioning plate 42. The side end of the notch 42a of the positioning plate 42 is locked in a positioning groove 34b formed between the projection 34a and the positioning locking piece 52. Therefore, it can be intuitively recognized that the male terminal 34 has been positioned at a predetermined position in the terminal accommodating chamber 40.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the retainer 36 is pushed upward from the temporary locking position, the retainer 36
The positioning locking pieces 52 of the male terminal 34 are fitted into the stepped portion 36a formed at the upper front end of the male terminal 34.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the retainer 36 is further pushed upward from this state, the retainer 36
Is fitted into the lock hole 46b of the housing 32, and the retainer 36 is locked at the final locking position.
At this time, the upper part of the male terminal 34 contacts the housing 32 while pushing up the flexible piece 33, and
Are locked to the front wall portion 48a of the ridge portion 48 formed on the upper portion of the housing 32. At this time, since the chamfered portions of the rear end edge of the retaining locking piece 54 and the front end edge of the protruding ridge portion 48 are chamfered, the male terminal 34 can be smoothly moved to the locking position. . As a result, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 of the male terminal 34 are locked to the step portion 51 of the retainer 36, and the retaining locking pieces 54, 54 are locked to the protruding ridge 48, so that the male terminal 34 is locked. The mold terminal 34 is doubly locked.

As described above, in the connector of the present embodiment, when the male terminal 34 is inserted into the housing with the retainer 36 inserted from below the housing 32 and temporarily locked, the male terminal 34 is inserted. The positioning and locking piece 52 is abutted and locked with the positioning plate 42 in the housing. Next, the male terminal 34 is pushed up by moving the retainer 36 from the temporary locking state to the full locking state, and the male terminal 3
4 is locked to the ridge 48 in the housing, and the positioning lock 52 is attached to the retainer 36.
The male terminal 34 is double-locked in the housing.

Therefore, since the male terminal 34 is double-locked by the movement of the retainer 36, the positioning plate 42 and the ridge 48 can be formed in a simple shape.
It is possible to eliminate the need for a locking lance having a complicated shape as in the related art. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be reduced. In addition, simply by retracting the retainer 36 from the locked position, the male terminal 3
4 can be easily pulled out from the housing, so that the complicated work of pulling out the male terminal 34 with the locking lance pressed down by a special jig as in the related art becomes unnecessary, and the workability at the time of maintenance is eliminated. Improvement can be achieved.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be applied to other embodiments. For example, although a case has been described with the present embodiment where a male terminal is assembled in a housing, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a female terminal is assembled in a housing.

[0033]

As described above, according to the connector of the present invention, the connection terminal provided with the two locking portions and the connection terminal abutting against one of the first locking portions of the connection terminal when the connection terminal is inserted. A first lock portion that regulates the pushing of the connection terminal and positions the connection terminal at a predetermined position is formed, and a second lock portion that locks to the other second locking portion of the connection terminal to prevent the connection terminal from slipping out is provided. A housing formed and a retainer for holding the connection terminal inserted into the housing at the locked position and holding one of the first locking portions of the connection terminal in contact with the first lock portion. ing.

Therefore, the first locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the retainer and the first lock portion, and the second locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the retainer and the second lock portion as the retainer moves. Since the first lock portion and the second lock portion themselves are stopped, the shape can be made simpler than the conventional locking lance having flexibility. Therefore, since the shape of the housing can be simplified, the manufacturing cost for molding the housing can be reduced. In addition, since the connection terminal can be pulled out of the housing only by retracting the retainer from the lock position, it is not necessary to press down the locking lance by using a conventional dedicated jig. Therefore, the workability during maintenance is improved, and there is no need to worry about deformation of the connection terminals and the like by the dedicated jig, so that the reliability of the connector can be improved.

[0035] In addition, a positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal comes into contact with the first locking portion is provided. Are locked in the positioning grooves. Therefore, the connection terminal can be reliably positioned at the predetermined position in a state where the connection terminal can move only in the moving direction of the retainer.

Further, when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing, the first locking portion of the connection terminal forms a part of the terminal receiving chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guides the connection terminal. The upper end surface of the retainer slides until it comes into contact with one lock portion. Therefore, the connection terminal inserted in the housing can be accurately inserted to a predetermined position,
A stable connection terminal insertion process can be established.

Further, since the guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed in the fitting hole of the housing which is the insertion opening of the connection terminal, the operation of inserting the connection terminal can be performed reliably and easily. Can be.

Further, the first connection terminal is provided at the front end of the retainer.
Since the step for locking the locking portion is formed, the first locking portion of the connection terminal can be reliably locked by moving the retainer from the temporary locking state to the full locking state.

Further, since the notch recess for inserting the front end of the connection terminal is formed in the first lock portion, the retainer moves with the front end of the first engagement portion of the connection terminal locked. The connection terminal can be reliably moved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view showing a temporarily locked state of a retainer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing a state in which the retainer in FIG. 1 is moving to the final locking.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view showing a fully locked state of the retainer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional connector with a retainer.

6 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a retainer and a housing in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 Connector 32 Housing 34 Male Terminal (Connection Terminal) 34a Projection 34b Positioning Groove 36 Retainer 40 Terminal Housing 42 Positioning Plate (First Locking Part) 42a Notch Notch 46a Positioning Hole 46b Locking Hole 48 Protrusion (Second Locking Part) ) 51 Step 52 Positioning Locking Piece (First Locking Part) 54 Stopping Locking Piece (Second Locking Part)

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connection terminal connected to an end of an electric wire and provided with two locking portions, and when the connection terminal is inserted, abuts on one first locking portion of the connection terminal to push the connection terminal. A first lock portion that regulates and positions the connection terminal at a predetermined position is formed, and a second lock portion that locks to the other second locking portion of the connection terminal to prevent the connection terminal from slipping back is provided. The formed connector housing and the connection terminal inserted into the connector housing are held in a locked position, and one of the first locking portions of the connection terminal is held in contact with the first lock portion. A connector characterized by comprising a retainer. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal includes a positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal comes into contact with the first locking portion. The connector according to claim 1. 3. When the retainer is temporarily locked to the connector housing, the retainer constitutes a part of a terminal receiving chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted, and guides the connection terminal. The connector according to claim 1. 4. A guide groove for guiding said first locking portion of said connection terminal is formed in a fitting hole of said connector housing which is an insertion opening of said connection terminal. Connectors. 5. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a step for locking the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed at a front end of the retainer. 6. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a cutout recess through which the front end of the connection terminal is inserted is formed in the first lock portion.