JP3433797B2 - Assembling method of housing and multi-stage 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 housing capable of forming a multistage connector and a method of assembling the multistage connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 19 shows a multistage connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 223172/1990. In this multistage connector, a plurality of housings 100 can be stacked on each other. Cavity 10 of each housing 100
A terminal metal fitting (not shown) is attached to the terminal 1, and when they are stacked in a predetermined layer, a multi-stage connector is assembled.

[0003]

By the way, the positions of the male and female terminal fittings to be respectively connected between the multistage connector and the matable mating connector are determined in advance. Therefore, it is necessary to define which housing 100 is to be assembled in what stage. For this purpose, for example, a method of specifying the number of steps by color coding and a method of providing unevenness for identification have been adopted.

Since the housing 100 shown in FIG. 19 has the same outer shape except for the housing 102 at the lowermost stage, a method of preventing wrong assembly by color coding can be considered. However, when performing color-coding, it is necessary to separately form the housing 100 for each color, which is troublesome. Further, when attempting to automate the assembly of the housing 100, an identification sensor or the like is required, which increases the cost of the multistage connector. Further, when the method of providing the unevenness for identification is adopted, it is necessary to form a mold dedicated to the housing for each step, and similarly, the cost of the multi-step connector becomes expensive. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a housing capable of forming a multi-stage connector, and mechanically define a step position at which each housing is assembled, and a single step. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-stage connector assembling method that uses one die and a housing thereof.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a housing according to the invention of claim 1 is provided with a cavity capable of accommodating a terminal fitting therein, and slides in one direction with respect to another housing. When the plurality of housings are stacked in the height direction, the plurality of housings can be brought into contact with each other when the plurality of housings are stacked in the height direction. A contact receiving portion is provided along the sliding direction, and by selectively cutting off the contact portion or the contact receiving portion according to a step in which the housings are stacked, a plurality of the housings can be properly formed. When assembled in the stacking position, the abutting portion and the abutting receiving portion abut at a regular assembling position so that the plurality of housings are assembled in alignment with each other, and When the housing is assembled in the wrong stacking position, the abutment portion and the abutment receiving portion abut at a position different from the regular assembly position, and the plurality of housings are assembled in a mismatched manner. To do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the abutting portion and the abutment receiving portion are abutting portions that project upward or downward on a side wall surface of the housing. And the contact receiving portion that is provided on the opposite side of the contact portion and contacts the contact portion of the mating housing located immediately above or below the contact receiving portion are formed in a staggered state so as to be displaced from each other. It is characterized by being

A third aspect of the present invention is a method for assembling a multi-stage connector, which is constructed by stacking the housings according to any one of the first and second aspects in a height direction, and a plurality of the connectors are provided on the housing. The abutting portion and the abutting receiving portion are abutted when the housings are stacked from the front side to the back side in the sliding direction according to the stacking order of the housings and the housings are assembled to each other in the regular positions. It is characterized in that the stacking order of the respective housings is regulated by notching so that the parts and the contact receiving parts come into contact with each other.

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, in order to stack a plurality of housings, a plurality of abutting portions and a plurality of abutting receiving portions are provided in accordance with the steps in which the housings are laminated. And are selectively removed. Next, the housings are assembled in a predetermined sliding direction to be stacked in multiple stages in the height direction. At this time, when the housings are assembled in the regular stacking position, the abutment portion and the abutment receiving portion abut at the regular assembly position, so that the plurality of housings are aligned and assembled. However, if the stacking position of the housings is incorrect, the contact portion and the contact receiving portion contact at a position different from the regular assembly position,
Mismatching can be prevented because the housings are aligned and cannot be assembled, resulting in a mismatched state. This housing is made of a single mold, and the contact part and the contact receiving part are appropriately cut off to prevent misassembly, so that the multi-stage connector should be more expensive than necessary. Can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the multi-stage connector is formed, the abutting portion and the abutting receiving portion are in contact with each other on the side wall surface of the housing. Can be identified more reliably. According to the invention of claim 3, when the housings are stacked,
If the order is correct, the abutment portion and the abutment portion abut at the proper position to assemble the multistage connector. on the other hand,
If the stacking order of the housings is incorrect, the abutting portion and the abutting receiving portion come into contact with each other before the housings are assembled in the proper position, and the misassembly is identified. In this way, incorrect assembly of the housing can be prevented.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Figure 1
FIG. 5 shows a single housing 1. In the following description, the side on which the male tab portion 5 of the terminal fitting 3 projects is referred to as the front side. In this housing 1, six housings 1 having the same shape form one group, and the six housings are stacked on each other to form a multistage connector 2. In the following description, the housings 1 that are stacked in six stages may be described by assigning the symbols A to F in order from the bottom.

The housing 1 is integrally formed of synthetic resin in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the terminal fitting 3 can be housed inside. A cavity 4 capable of accommodating the terminal fitting 3 is formed in the center of the housing 1 (see FIG. 18).
Only shown in. ). The cavity 4 is open to the front and rear, and the rear side of the cavity 4 is largely open as a terminal mounting port 4A for mounting the terminal fitting 3. In addition, a pair of upper and lower openings are provided on the front side, and the lower one of them is a terminal connection port 4B into which the male tab portion 5 of another terminal fitting 3 located immediately below can be inserted. . In addition, the upper opening is used for the male tab portion 5 of the terminal fitting 3 mounted in the cavity 4.
Is a tab lead-out port 4C for leading out. Further, a lance engagement hole 7 with which the lance 6 of the terminal fitting 3 can be engaged is provided in front of the upper wall of the cavity 4.

A pair of left and right slide projections 8 are provided on the upper wall of the housing 1. This slide protrusion 8 is
It can be fitted into the slide groove portion 9 provided in the lower wall of the housing 1 by sliding in the front-rear direction. The slide protrusion 8 is extended along the front-rear direction, leaving the front and rear ends of the housing 1, and the cross-section thereof has a divergent shape with its tip portion protruding from the left and right sides. On the other hand, the slide groove portion 9 is, as shown in FIG.
The housing 1 is formed in a pair of left and right and extends along the front-rear direction. The cross section of the slide groove portion 9 is substantially dovetail-shaped so that the slide protrusion portion 8 can be received. When the slide protrusion portion 8 and the slide groove portion 9 engage with each other, the pair of upper and lower housings 1 cannot be disengaged in the vertical direction. It is adapted to be engaged in a simple state.

The rear end side of the slide groove portion 9 is closed, while the front end side is opened to the front of the housing 1.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the plurality of housings 1
When assembling in the height direction, the lower housing 1
On the other hand, the upper housing 1 is assembled by sliding it in one direction from the rear to the front. Further, in the housing 1, the side wall surface 1 shown in FIG.
0 (left side wall surface) is provided with contact portions 11A to 11E and contact receiving portions 12A to 12E. Contact part 11A
11E are projectingly provided on the upper side of the side wall surface 10, and a plurality of them are formed along the front-rear direction (that is, along the sliding direction when the plurality of housings 1 are assembled). Further, the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are formed so as to project from the lower end of the side wall surface 10 to the lower surface side of the housing 1. A plurality of contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are provided along the front-rear direction similarly to the contact portions 11A to 11E. Has been. Further, the respective contact portions 11A to 11E and the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are formed in a zigzag state so as to be displaced from each other as shown in FIG. The contact portions 11A to 11E and the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are formed so as to be cut, respectively, and are selectively cut as follows according to the position where the housing 1 is stacked. There is.

Contact portions 11A-11E and contact receiving portions 12A-
12E is set so that when the housings 1 are assembled in the proper positions, those having the same branch numbers (A to E) come into contact with each other. For this reason, the contact portions 11A to 11A to
11E and the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E from the front side (rear side of the housing 1 in this embodiment) to the back side (front side of the housing 1) along the sliding direction (from the back to the front). And cut them so that they remain in order.
That is, in the housing 1A located at the lowermost stage, only the contact portion 11A is left and the remaining contact portions 11B to 11E and all the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are cut. Further, in the housing 1B located at the second stage, the remaining contact portion 11B and the frontmost contact receiving portion 12A are left, and the remaining one is cut. Housing 1 from the third stage
C to 1F cut the remaining parts in the following order, leaving the contact part 11 and the contact receiving part 12 from the front side (see also FIG. 17). With this configuration, when the plurality of housings 1A to 1F are assembled in the regular stacking position, the contact portion 11 left on the lower housing 1 is formed.
And the contact receiving portion 12 left in the upper housing 1,
The plurality of housings 1 are assembled in alignment with each other by abutting at the proper assembly position.

Next, the terminal fitting 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The terminal fitting 3 is formed by pressing a carrier 13 extending in a strip shape at a predetermined interval. The rear end portion of the terminal fitting 3 is connected to the carrier 13 and is manufactured so that its tip end side is separated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the carrier 13.
The barrel 3A for fixing the electric wire W is provided at the rear of the terminal fitting 3.
Is provided. In front of the barrel portion 3A, a pair of front and rear pressure contact portions 3B that bite into the coating portion of the electric wire W and connect to the inner core wire are provided. In addition, in the front portion of the terminal fitting 3, a rectangular tubular connecting portion 14 capable of receiving the male tab portion 5 is received.
Is provided. Further, a male tab portion 5 is extended at the front end of the upper surface of the connecting portion 14. In this way, the terminal fitting 3
The conventional male side terminal fitting and the female side terminal fitting are both provided, and when a plurality of terminal fittings 3 are vertically stacked, the male tab portion 5 of the terminal fitting 3 located immediately below is connected. It is connectable to the portion 14. The upper surface of the connecting portion 14 has a lance 6 that is elastically deformable in the vertical direction.
Is projected.

As shown in FIG. 7, after the terminal fitting 3 is bent and formed in a state of being connected to the carrier 13, the carrier 13 is bent vertically in a wave shape (see FIG. 8). In this way, the terminal fittings 3 are separated from each other by a distance corresponding to the distance between the cavities 4 of the housing 1. In FIG. 9, a carrier 13 in which six terminal fittings 3 are connected (in the present embodiment, each housing 1 is
Twelve terminal fittings 3 are mounted in a row in a row, and when the carrier 13 in which six terminal fittings 3 are connected is set as one set, two carriers 13 are provided in the cavity 4 of one housing 1. The terminal fitting 3 to be mounted can be processed. )showed that. As for the male tab portion 5 of the terminal fitting 3, only the one that needs to be connected to another terminal fitting 3 located immediately above is left, and the remaining male tab portion 5 is cut from the base end portion.
Regarding the carrier 13, when the tips of the six terminal fittings 3 are mounted in the cavity 4, the dotted line A in FIG.
The upper part from the part indicated by is cut with a laser.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, before stacking the housings 1A to 1F, the terminal fittings 3 are attached to the respective housings 1A to 1F.
Put on. FIG. 10 shows the housing 1A located at the bottom when the terminal fittings 3 are mounted in the cavities 4.
showed that. In this housing 1A, the rearmost contact portion 1
Only 1A is left and the remaining contact portion 11 and contact receiving portion 12 are cut off.

Further, the terminal metal fitting 3 in which the male tab portion 5 is left is the one from the tab lead-out port 4C of the cavity 4
They have been derived. Next, as shown in FIG.
The male tab portion 5 is bent upward from the base end portion, and further, the central portion of the male tab portion 5 is bent backward as shown in FIG. In this way, the male tab portion 5 is folded back in a substantially U shape as a whole, and the tip end portion thereof reaches a position where it can be inserted into the terminal connection port 4B of the housing 1B stacked on the upper side of the housing 1A. Next, the housing 1A is mounted on the assembly jig 15. Here, the configuration of the assembly jig 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 15. The assembling jig 15 has a mounting recess 16 into which the housing 1A located at the bottom can be mounted. A pair of side wall portions 17 and 18 are provided upright on the left and right of the mounting recessed portion 16, of which the contact portion 1 is provided on the side wall surface 10 of the housing 1A.
On the side wall 17 on the side where 1A is left, the contact portion 11A
The positioning recessed portion 17A into which is fitted is recessed. Further, at the front end of the mounting recess 16, there is provided a front wall portion 19 having a height substantially the same as the height when the six-stage housings 1A to 1F are stacked.

The assembling jig 15 thus constructed
On the other hand, the housing 1A is assembled in the mounting recess 16 from the upper side. Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the housing 1B having a two-step surface is assembled by sliding from the rear of the housing 1A. The slide protrusions 8 of the housing 1A are respectively assembled to the pair of left and right slide groove portions 9 which are open at the front end of the lower surface of the housing 1B.
Slide forward. Along with the assembling, the male tab portion 5 projecting from the housing 1A enters the cavity 4 through the terminal connection port 4B of the housing 1B, and the upper and lower terminal fittings 3 are electrically connected.

When the housing 1B is pushed to a predetermined position, the contact portion 11A of the housing 1A and the contact receiving portion 12A of the housing 1B come into contact with each other and the front and rear ends of the housings 1A and 1B are aligned with each other. Reach the regular mounting position. Next, the lower housings 1C to 1F are sequentially assembled, and when the six housings 1A to 1F are properly assembled, the assembly of the multistage connector 2 is completed. In this assembly, when the housings 1A to 1F are stacked, if the order is correct, the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 are in contact with each other at regular positions between the respective stages, and the multistage type The connector 2 is assembled. After the assembly is completed, the multistage connector 2 is attached to the assembly jig 1
5, the protective cover 20 for protecting the front end face of the multistage connector 2 is assembled (see FIG. 17).

By the way, if the stacking order of the housings 1A to 1F is wrong, the wrong assembly is found as follows. For example, a case where the third-stage housing 1C is stacked when the second-stage housing 1B is stacked will be described. As shown in FIG. 17, the housing 1C has a second contact receiving portion 12B from the front side and a third contact portion 11C from the front side, and the remaining one is cut off. When the housing 1C is assembled on the upper surface of the housing 1A, the slide protrusions 8 and the slide groove portions 9 are combined with each other, and the slide assembly proceeds without problems up to the middle. However, the contact receiving portion 12B of the housing 1C before reaching the proper assembly position.
However, since it comes into contact with the contact portion 11A of the housing 1A, the assembling operation ends when the rear end portion of the housing 1C projects rearward from the rear end portion of the housing 1A. In this way, since the positions are different from the positions where the two housings 1A and 1C are aligned with each other, erroneous assembly is found, the erroneous housing 1C is removed, and the regular assembly operation of the housing 1B is performed again. As described above, in this embodiment, when the wrong housing 1 is assembled, the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 come into contact with each other at the assembly position before the regular assembly position, As a result, erroneous assembly between the housings 1 can be prevented.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in order to stack the plurality of housings 1A to 1F, the housing 1
A plurality of contact portions 11A depending on the level at which A to 1F are stacked.
11E and the plurality of contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are selectively cut off. Next, the housings 1A to 1F are assembled in a predetermined sliding direction so that they are stacked in multiple stages in the height direction. At this time, when each of the housings 1A to 1F is assembled in the regular stacking position, the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 are brought into contact with each other at the regular assembly position, so that the plurality of housings 1A to 1F are aligned. Can be assembled.
However, if the stacking positions of the housings 1A to 1F are incorrect, the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 contact at a position different from the regular assembly position, so that the housings 1A to 1F are aligned. Since it cannot be assembled by mistake, incorrect assembly can be prevented. The housings 1A to 1F are formed from a single mold, and the contact portions 11A to 11E are appropriately formed.
Since the erroneous assembly is prevented by cutting off the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E, it is possible to prevent the cost of the multistage connector 2 from being unnecessarily expensive.

Further, when the multi-stage connector 2 is formed, the contact portions 11A to 11E and the contact receiving portions 12A to 12E are in contact with each other on the side wall surface 10 of the housings 1A to 1F, which can be visually confirmed. Housing 1A-1F
The stacking order of can be identified more reliably.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following technical scope is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the technical scope of the present invention extends to an equivalent range. (1) In the present embodiment, the position where the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 contact is the side wall surface of the housing 1, but according to the present invention, the contact portion and the contact receiving portion are the housing. You may make it contact | abut on the upper surface or lower surface.

(2) In this embodiment, the contact portion 11 and the contact receiving portion 12 are notched so as to contact from the front side to the back side along the sliding direction according to the stacking order of the housings 1A to 1F. However, it is also possible to make contact with the front side from the back side along the sliding direction in the reverse order. In this way, when the housings are stacked in the wrong order, the abutting portion and the abutting receiving portion come into contact with each other when the housings are stacked in the wrong order, so that a plurality of housings are misaligned. As they are assembled, misassembly is revealed. However, according to the present embodiment, as compared with the case of reversing the order as described above, the incorrect assembly is found before the regular assembly position, which is more effective in preventing the incorrect assembly. (3) In the present embodiment, the terminal fitting 3 is provided with both the male side male tab portion 5 and the female side connecting portion 14, but according to the present invention, the terminal fitting is male side or female side. Either side may be used. (4) In the present embodiment, the assembling direction of the housing 1 is from the back to the front, but according to the present invention, other than this, the direction from the front to the back or the left-right direction can be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the housing.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the housing.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the housing.

[Fig. 5] Bottom view of the housing

[Figure 6] Development view of terminal fittings

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the terminal fitting is connected to the carrier.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view when the carrier to which the terminal fittings are connected is folded.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the terminal fitting connected to the cavity when a part of the male tab portion is removed.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view when the terminal fitting is attached to the housing.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view when an intermediate portion of the male tab portion of the terminal fitting mounted in the housing is bent upward.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view when the front end portion of the male tab portion of the terminal fitting attached to the housing is folded back to the rear side.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view when the first-stage housing is attached to an assembly jig.

FIG. 14 is a side view of an assembly jig.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of an assembly jig.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view before the pair of housings are assembled in the sliding direction.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view before attaching a protective cover to the multistage connector.

FIG. 18 is a side sectional view of a multistage connector.

FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional multistage connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A-1F ... Housing 2 ... Multi-stage connector 3 ... Terminal fittings 4 ... Cavity 10 ... Side wall surface 11A to 11E ... Abutting part 12A to 12E ... Contact receiving portion

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-148583 (JP, A) JP-A-2-223171 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-252003 (JP, A) Jitsukaihei 2-2878 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/514 H01R 43/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A housing having a cavity capable of accommodating a terminal fitting inside thereof, which is slidable in one direction with respect to another housing to be stacked in a multi-tiered manner in a height direction. A plurality of abutting portions and a plurality of abutting receiving portions are provided along the sliding direction at positions where they can abut each other when the housings are stacked in the height direction,
When the plurality of housings are assembled in the regular stacking position by selectively cutting off the abutting portion or the abutting receiving portion in accordance with the step in which the housings are stacked, the abutting portion and the abutting portion are attached. When the plurality of housings are assembled in a wrong stacking position, the contact portion and the contact receiving portion are brought into contact with each other at a proper assembly position to align the plurality of housings with each other. And a plurality of the housings are assembled in a mismatched manner by abutting each other at a position different from the regular assembly position. 2. The abutting part and the abutting receiving part are provided on the side wall surface of the housing, the abutting part protruding upward or downward, and the abutting part provided on the side opposite to the abutting part. The housing according to claim 1, wherein the contact receiving portion that contacts the contact portion of the mating housing located immediately below is formed in a zigzag state so as to be displaced from each other. 3. A method of assembling a multi-stage connector, which is configured by stacking the housings according to claim 1 or 2 in a height direction, wherein a plurality of abutments are provided on the housings. The contact portion and the contact receiving portion in the order of stacking of the housings from the front side to the back side in the sliding direction, and when the housings are assembled to each other in the regular position, the contact portion and the contact receiving portion are arranged. A method for assembling a multi-stage connector, characterized in that the stacking order of the housings is defined by cutting out so that the housings come into contact with each other.