JP3485995B2 - 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 for use in wiring of, for example, an automobile, and more particularly, to a connector provided with a rear holder for preventing a connection terminal housed in a housing from coming out backward by double locking. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of conventional connector, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a terminal 1 having a rear end to which a wire 3 is connected accommodates a terminal accommodating hole 2 of a housing 1 made of synthetic resin. The rear portion of the terminal connecting portion 4 a of the connecting terminal 4 is locked by the locking lance 5. The upper surface of the locking lance 5 is pressed by, for example, a front holder 6 fitted to the front of the housing 1 to reinforce the locking force of the locking lance 5.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the locking lance 5 is molded so as to project into the terminal accommodating hole 2, the structure of the molding die becomes complicated and at the same time, There is a problem that the management of molding conditions is not easy.

Further, in order to securely lock the connection terminal 4 with the locking lance 5, the locking lance 5 must be molded from an expensive synthetic resin material having dimensional stability and mechanical strength. However, the housing 1 is inevitably made of the same material, which raises a problem of high cost.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a connector having a large locking force at a low cost by omitting a locking part for a connection terminal provided on a housing and providing the locking part on a rear holder. Especially.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, a connector according to the present invention is provided with a rear holder at a rear portion of the housing for holding a connection terminal which is housed in a terminal housing hole of the housing and fixed with an electric wire. The rear holder and the housing are engaged with each other at a temporary engagement position where the rear holder is inserted to an intermediate position and a main engagement position where the rear holder is sufficiently pushed into the housing. A flexible first locking portion for locking the rear end portion of the terminal main body portion of the connection terminal at the main engagement position, and a first locking portion for locking the rear end portion of the wire crimping portion of the connection terminal Two
And the first locking portion is pressed and bent by the terminal main body when the connection terminal is housed in the housing, and is restored after passing through the terminal main body to restore the terminal. It is characterized in that the main body is locked and the width thereof is substantially matched with the width of the terminal receiving hole.

[0007]

In the connector having the above-mentioned structure, when the connection terminal is inserted into the housing when the rear holder is at the temporary engagement position, the first locking portion provided on the rear holder causes the rear end of the terminal main body portion of the connection terminal to move. The second locking portion locks the rear end portion of the wire crimping portion when the end portion is locked. When the rear holder is pushed in sufficiently from this state, the rear holder moves to the main engagement position while maintaining the state in which the first and second locking portions lock the connection terminals. Then, by making the width of the first locking portion substantially equal to the width of the terminal accommodating chamber that houses the connection terminal, the locking force of the connection terminal by the first locking portion is improved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the first embodiment, in which a connecting terminal 12 to which an electric wire 11 is connected has a housing 1
3 is shown in a state where the rear holder 14 is housed in the housing 3 and is locked by the rear holder 14 installed in the rear portion of the housing 13. Also,
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the housing 13 and the rear holder 14.

The connection terminal 12 is formed of a conductive metal plate, and has a terminal connection portion 21 into which a mating insertion terminal (not shown) is inserted and a core wire crimping portion 2 for crimping the core wire of the electric wire 11.
2 and a coating crimping portion 23 for crimping the coating of the electric wire 11 are sequentially provided from the front.

The housing 13 and the rear holder 14 are made of a synthetic resin material, and a plurality of terminal accommodating holes 31 for accommodating the connection terminals 12 are provided in the housing 13 in, for example, a two-stage double row. A terminal support 32 for supporting the terminal connecting portion 21 and preventing its swinging is provided in the front part of the terminal accommodating hole 31.
The rear part is a lower lance support base 33 for supporting a locking lance described later.

At the rear portion of the terminal accommodating hole 31, there is provided a holder fitting hole 34 for fitting the rear holder 14 so as to be movable back and forth. Guide windows 37 and 38 that open rearward are provided at the lower portions of the side walls 35 and 36 of the holder fitting hole 34, and locking frames 39 and 40 are provided at the upper portions of the side walls 35 and 36.
Are provided respectively. A flexible arm 41 having both ends integrally formed with the housing 13 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 13, and a projection for locking the mating connector housing (not shown) on the upper surface of the arm 41. 42 are provided.

On the other hand, in the rear holder 14, the housing 1
A plurality of terminal insertion holes 51 are provided inside the main body 50 that fits into the holder fitting hole 34 of No. 3 so as to correspond to the terminal accommodating holes 31 of the housing 13. The housing 1 is provided below the outer surfaces of the side walls 52 and 53 of the main body 50.
The guide protrusions 5 which are guided in the guide windows 37 and 38, respectively.
4 and 55 are provided, and flexible locking projections 56 and 57 that are locked to the locking frames 39 and 40 of the housing 13 are provided on upper portions of the outer surfaces of the side walls 52 and 53, respectively.

A flexible locking lance 58 for locking the rear end of the terminal connecting portion 21 of the connecting terminal 12 is provided at the front end of the main body portion 50. It is provided corresponding to. The locking lance 58 is integrally projectingly provided from the main body portion 50, and the terminal connecting portion 2 is provided at the tip portion.
1 and a lance body 58 that can enter between the lance support base 33
a and a locking projection 58b projecting from the upper surface of the lance body 58a for locking the rear end of the terminal connecting portion 21. The width of the locking lance 58 is made to substantially match the width of the terminal accommodating hole 31. On the upper wall of the terminal insertion hole 51, a locking base 59 for locking the rear end of the cover crimp portion 23 of the connection terminal 12 is provided so as to project into the terminal insertion hole 51.

The housing 13 and the rear holder 14 thus formed are shown in FIG. 3 in which the main body 50 of the rear holder 14 is inserted up to the middle of the holder fitting hole 34 of the housing 13.
1 is engaged with the main engagement position shown in FIG. 1 in which the main body 50 of the rear holder 14 is sufficiently pushed into the housing 13. That is, at the temporary engagement position, the guide protrusions 54 and 55 of the rear holder 14 are located at the guide window 3 of the housing 13.
In this state, the locking protrusions 56 and 57 of the rear holder 14 are locked to the locking frame 39,
It is in a state of being locked at 40 respectively.

When housing the connection terminal 12 to which the electric wire 11 is connected in the terminal housing hole 31, when the rear holder 14 is in the temporary engagement position with respect to the housing 13, the connection terminal 1 is connected.
2 is pushed into the terminal accommodating hole 31 through the terminal insertion hole 51. The lance body 58a of the locking lance 58 has a connection terminal 12
After being pressed by the terminal connecting portion 21 and bent downward, and the terminal connecting portion 21 gets over the locking projection 58b, the lance body 58a is restored as shown in FIG. Located at the rear end. At the same time, the cover crimp part 2
The rear end of 3 is located in front of the locking base 59. By inserting the connection terminal 12 at the temporary engagement position of the rear holder 14, the electric wire 1 is compared with the case where the rear holder 14 is attached after the connection terminal 12 is attached to the housing 13.
The labor of inserting 1 into the rear holder 14 is saved.

When the rear holder 14 is inserted forward from such a state, the locking projection 58b of the locking lance 58 presses against the rear end of the terminal connecting portion 21, and the locking base 59 of the covering crimping portion 23. The rear end portion is pressed, and as the rear holder 14 moves forward, the connection terminal 12 also moves forward. Then, the front end portion of the terminal connecting portion 21 abuts on the front regulating portion 13a, and as shown in FIG. 1, the front end portion of the lance body 58a of the locking lance 58 is fitted into the upper portion of the support base 33 to advance the connecting terminal 12. Stops. At this time, the guide protrusions 54, 5 of the rear holder 14
5 contacts the inner walls of the guide windows 37, 38 of the housing 13, and the locking projections 56, 57 of the rear holder 14 fit into the locking frames 39, 40 of the housing 13. As a result, the rear holder 14 is engaged with the housing 13 at the main engagement position, and the locking lance 58 and the locking base 59 of the rear holder 14 doubly lock the connection terminal 12.

As described above, in the first embodiment, since it is not necessary to form the conventional locking lance inside the housing 13, the shape of the housing 13 can be simplified and the molding conditions can be relaxed. Therefore, the cost of the molding die can be reduced. Further, since the housing 13 that requires a larger amount of material than the rear holder 14 does not require dimensional stability or mechanical strength so much, an inexpensive synthetic resin material is sufficient, and the cost can be reduced. Further, since the width of the locking lance 58 is made substantially equal to the width of the terminal housing hole 31,
The locking force by the locking lance 58 can be further improved.

On the other hand, since the lance support base 33 is provided inside the housing 13, the locking force of the locking lance 58 can be improved by supporting the front end portion of the locking lance 58 with the upper surface thereof. Further, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 4, when the rear holder 14 is pushed in without pushing the connection terminal 12 to a predetermined position, the locking lance 58 remains bent and the locking lance 58 moves. It is possible to prevent the rear holder 14 from advancing to the main engagement position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the second embodiment, in which the housing 15 and the rear holder 16 are vertically symmetrical. A gap 63 is provided in front of the lower wall 62 of the terminal receiving hole 61 of the housing 15, and a front portion of the terminal receiving hole 61 has a ceiling wall 64 and is sized to fit the terminal connecting portion 21. The rear portion of the accommodation hole 61 has a top wall 65 and has an outer shape larger than that of the front end portion. In addition, the terminal accommodating hole 6
A holder fitting hole 67 for fitting the rear holder 16 is provided at the rear end of the top wall 66, and a cavity 68 is provided at the front of the top wall 66.

On the other hand, a locking lance 71 having a lance main body 71a and a locking projection 71b is provided at the front end of the main body 70 of the rear holder 16, and the upper and lower partition walls 7 of the terminal insertion hole 72 are provided.
3 has a thickness capable of locking the rear end portion of the cover crimp portion 23 of the connection terminal 12.

In the second embodiment, the lance body 71a of the locking lance 71 is fitted inside the ceiling wall 65, and the upper and lower partition walls 73 lock the rear end of the cover crimping portion 23 of the connection terminal 12. Further, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 6, when the rear holder 16 is pushed in at the temporary engagement position of the rear holder 16 without pushing the connection terminal 12 to a predetermined position, the locking lance remains bent outward. The movement of 71 can be restricted by the rear wall surface of the ceiling wall 65, and the rear holder 16 can be prevented from advancing to the main engagement position. The other operational effects are similar to those of the first embodiment.

[0022]

As described above, in the connector according to the present invention, since it is not necessary to form the conventional locking lance in the terminal receiving hole in the housing, the shape of the housing can be simplified and the molding can be performed. The conditions can be relaxed and the cost of the molding die can be reduced.
In addition, the housing can be made of a material that does not require dimensional stability and mechanical strength as compared with the related art, so that the material cost can be reduced. Further, since the width of the first locking portion of the rear holder can be widened so as to substantially match the width of the terminal accommodating hole, the locking force of the first locking portion can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a housing and a rear holder.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a temporary engagement position between a housing and a rear holder.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 connection terminals 13, 15 housing 14, 16 Rear holder 21 terminal connection 23 Covered crimp part 31, 61 Terminal receiving hole 39, 40 locking frame 56, 57 Locking protrusion 58, 71 Locking lance 59 Locking stand 73 Upper and lower partition walls

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References: Kaihei 3-71576 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/42

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric wire housed in a terminal housing hole of a housing
A rear holder for locking the fixed connection terminal is fitted to a rear portion of the housing, and the rear holder and the housing are provided with a temporary engagement position in which the rear holder is inserted up to an intermediate position, and the rear holder with respect to the housing. A first engaging portion having flexibility and engaging with the main engaging position pushed into the rear holder, and engaging the rear holder with the rear end portion of the terminal main body portion of the connection terminal at the final engaging position. A second locking part for locking the rear end of the wire crimping part of the connection terminal , wherein the first locking part connects the connection terminal to the housing.
When it is housed in
The terminal book is restored after passing through the terminal body.
Lock the body, and its width is almost the same as the width of the terminal receiving hole
A connector characterized by being made . 2. The first locking portion is provided in two stages,
The first engaging portions are arranged in the same direction in the vertical direction,
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the second engaging portions are arranged apart from each other . 3. The first locking portion is provided in two stages,
The first locking portions are vertically symmetrically arranged in the vertical direction, and
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the second locking portions are arranged adjacent to each other .