JP4492438B2 - Joint connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint connector.

A joint connector described in Patent Document 1 is known. The joint connector includes a bus bar in which a plurality of tab pieces are arranged in parallel, a bus bar housing portion on which the bus bar is mounted, and a cover that is placed on the rear surface of the bus bar housing portion and prevents the bus bar from coming off. On the front surface of the bus bar accommodating portion, a fitting recess that can be fitted to the mating housing is formed to open, and the tab piece of the bus bar is arranged to protrude into the fitting recess.
JP 2004-22319 A

  By the way, a lock arm which can be bent and deformed is formed on the peripheral wall of the fitting recess, and a lock receiving portion is formed on the counterpart housing, and the other side of the lock receiving portion and the lock arm is based on the elastic locking action. A method of preventing the housing from being detached from the bus bar housing portion is known. At this time, in order to reduce the height of the fitting recess, the lock arm may be formed by cutting out the peripheral wall of the fitting recess, and the lock arm may be exposed inside and outside the peripheral wall of the fitting recess. However, in that case, there is no partition between the lock arm and the tab piece, so if the lock arm is greatly bent and deformed to the tab piece side due to external force, it will finally hit the tab piece and lock with the tab piece. Either one or both of the arms may be plastically deformed.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent a lock arm and a tab piece from being deformed when receiving an external force.

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a bus bar provided with a tab piece connectable to a mating terminal fitting, and a mating housing accommodated on the front surface of the bus bar. A joint connector comprising a bus bar housing portion in which a possible fitting recess is opened and the tab piece protrudes into the fitting recess, and is exposed to the inside and outside of the peripheral wall of the fitting recess. A lock arm that can be elastically locked in a state in which the counterpart housing that is normally inserted in the recess is prevented from coming off is formed, and the lock arm can be elastically bent in a direction approaching / separating from the tab piece. Furthermore, the lock arm is located at a position closer to the tab piece than the position at which the lock arm is in a natural state, and at a position different from the lock position where the lock arm locks the mating housing. It regulating unit deflection restricting the resilient deformation of the said tabs on one side of the lock arm is provided in the arm and the abutment, the rear portion of the bus bar accommodating portion as a cover for retaining the bus bar is attached covered The bend restricting portion is formed so as to protrude from the front surface of the cover, and the bend restricting portion causes the elastic deformation of the lock arm as the cover is attached to the bus bar accommodating portion. It is characterized by reaching to a restrictable position .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the lock arm according to the first aspect, an entrance groove into which the bending restricting portion slidably enters in accordance with the mounting operation of the cover is formed by a notch. It has a characteristic where it exists .

<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the lock arm in the natural state receives an external force, the lock arm is located at a position closer to the tab than the position where the lock arm is disposed, and the lock arm Since the bending restricting portion disposed at a position different from the locking position is in contact with the lock arm, the lock arm is prevented from approaching the tab piece side. There is no hit. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where the lock arm and the tab piece are plastically deformed due to the abutment of both.

Also , as the cover is attached to the bus bar housing part, the bending restricting part reaches a position where the elastic deformation of the lock arm can be restricted, so that it is recognized that the elastic deformation of the lock arm is restricted upon completion of the cover attaching operation. can do. In addition, since the cover has both a function for preventing the bus bar from coming off and a function for restricting the elastic deformation of the lock arm, the number of parts can be reduced.

<Invention of Claim 2 >
In the lock arm, an entry groove into which the deflection restricting portion enters in a slidable manner with the cover mounting operation is formed by the notch, so that the smoothness of the entry operation of the deflection restricting portion is ensured.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The joint connector 10 of the present embodiment includes a plurality of bus bars 11, a bus bar accommodating portion 20 that accommodates the bus bars 11 and has a fitting recess 21 that can be fitted with a mating sub-housing 36 on the front surface. And a cover 40 provided on the rear surface of the bus bar housing portion 20. In the following description, the right side of FIG.

  The bus bar 11 is formed by pressing a metal plate material or the like. At the front edge of the bus bar main body 12, a strip-shaped bus bar main body 12 arranged in the width direction (left-right direction) of the bus bar accommodating portion 20. It consists of a plurality of tab pieces 13 protruding forward with a certain interval. The bus bar 11 is attached to the bus bar housing portion 20 by press-fitting from the rear, and is arranged in a plurality of stages in the height direction of the bus bar housing portion 20 according to the circuit configuration.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the bus bar housing portion 20 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, and protrudes forward from the front surface of the bus bar mounting portion 24 in the form of a block-shaped bus bar mounting portion 24 raised in the height direction. And a cylindrical fitting recess 21 in which a plurality of chamber housing chambers (six chambers in the drawing) are divided in the width direction (left-right direction). Then, on the left side surface shown in FIG. 4 (hereinafter referred to as FIG. 4 as a reference in the left-right direction) of both side surfaces of the bus bar housing portion 20, from the rear end of the bus bar mounting portion 24 toward the front end of the housing housing chamber 23, A mounting portion 25 that can be fixed to a mounting target (not shown) is formed. The attachment portion 25 includes a pair of upper and lower rail portions 25A that are arranged at intervals in the height direction and extend along the front-rear direction, and an attachment protrusion 25B disposed therebetween. The joint connector 10 according to the present embodiment is slidably mounted on the mounting target from the front along the rail portion 25A, and is fixed to the mounting target by locking the mounting projection 25B.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a substantially rectangular locking hole 26 is formed at the center height position of both side surfaces of the bus bar mounting portion 24, and the locking hole 26 is formed in the cover 40. The cover 40 is locked to the bus bar accommodating portion 20 by fitting the locking claws 41 </ b> A of the elastic locking portion 41. A fitting recess 21 that extends from the front edge of the locking hole 26 through a step 21 </ b> A is connected to the front edge of the locking hole 26, and a cover 40, an elastic locking portion 41, and the rear edge of the corresponding fitting recess 21 are connected. An escape portion 28 for avoiding the interference is formed by a notch.

  On the rear surface of the bus bar mounting portion 24, as shown in FIG. 5, a bus bar accommodating chamber 29 in which the bus bar 11 can be mounted from behind is formed in a plurality of levels (in the illustrated case, four levels). The bus bar accommodating chamber 29 is opened in a horizontal slit shape and is located at a position corresponding to the bus bar main body accommodating portion 30 capable of accommodating the bus bar main body 12 and the tab piece 13 of the bus bar 11 and penetrates the tab piece 13. 31. Of the bus bar mounting portion 24, between the tab piece insertion holes 31 adjacent in the width direction, an engagement receiving portion 32 that can engage with the engagement portion 42 formed in the cover 40 is recessed in the height direction. Has been. The bus bar accommodating chamber 29 is divided at a plurality of locations in the width direction (five locations in the drawing) by the engagement receiving portion 32. Further, each opening edge of the engagement receiving portion 32 and the bus bar accommodating chamber 29 is chamfered over the entire circumference.

  The distal end portion of the tab piece 13 is arranged so as to protrude into the fitting recess 21 in a vertical row for each corresponding housing accommodation chamber 23 after passing through the tab piece insertion hole 31. A mating sub-housing 36 is fitted in each housing accommodating chamber 23, so that a mating female terminal fitting (not shown) accommodated in the sub-housing 36 and the tab piece 13 can be connected. The female terminal fittings accommodated in the sub-housings 36 adjacent to each other are short-circuited for each row via the bus bar body 12 of the corresponding bus bar 11.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a lance-like lock arm 33 that prevents the sub-housing 36 from coming off is formed in the upper wall of the fitting recess 21 at a position corresponding to each housing accommodating chamber 23 by a notch. . The lock arm 33 is configured to extend rearward in a cantilevered manner between a pair of slits 22 </ b> B inserted in the upper wall of the fitting recess 21, and is exposed to the inside and outside of the peripheral wall of the fitting recess 21. It has become. Further, the lock arm 33 can be elastically bent in a direction approaching / separating from the tab piece 13 from a natural state extending straight along the front-rear direction.

  On the rear end side of the lock arm 33, a locking projection 34 that can be locked with a locking receiving portion 37 formed in the sub-housing 36 is formed so as to protrude downward (on the housing housing chamber 23 side). . The rear surface of the locking projection 34 is a locking surface 34A that slightly recedes toward the protruding end side, and the front surface of the locking projection 34 is a guide surface that is tapered along the insertion direction of the sub-housing 36. 34B.

  An entry groove 35 </ b> F that allows entry of a bending restricting portion 45 described later is formed in the lower surface of the lock arm 33. The entry groove 35F is open to the rear surface and the lower surface of the lock arm 33, has a cross-sectional gate shape, and extends with the same width in the front-rear direction. Specifically, the entry groove 35F is notched from the rear surface of the lock arm 33 to the rear half of the locking projection 34, and is further tapered at the rear end portion of the upper surface of the groove wall. It has a surface 35A.

  The mating sub-housing 36 is made of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of types are prepared and formed in a standing wall shape, and can be inserted into the corresponding housing accommodation chamber 23 in a vertical orientation. Yes. The above-described locking receiving portion 37 is formed to protrude from the rear end of the upper surface of the sub-housing 36, and is a locked surface 37A that slightly tilts forward as the front surface thereof moves toward the protruding end. On the side surface of the sub-housing 36, a plurality of guide receiving portions 38 that can be engaged with the guide portions 23A formed on the inner wall of the housing accommodating chamber 23 are formed along the front-rear direction, and these guide portions 23A and the guide receiving portions 38 are formed. Insertion operation of the sub-housing 36 is guided by being in sliding contact with each other.

  Further, the guide portion 23A and the guide receiving portion 38 have a bilaterally asymmetric structure, and have an identification function for preventing reverse insertion of the sub housing 36. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, a retainer 39 is formed on the side surface of the sub-housing 36 to prevent the normally inserted female terminal fitting from coming off. The retainer 39 can be locked into the female terminal fitting by being pushed in from the state of being floated on the side surface of the sub-housing 36.

  When the sub-housing 36 is inserted into the corresponding housing accommodating chamber 23, the rear surface of the latch receiving portion 37 and the guide surface 34B of the latching projection 34 are slidably contacted in the middle of the insertion, and locked in accordance with the sliding operation. The arm 33 is bent upward and deformed. After that, when the sub-housing 36 is properly inserted, the locking receiving portion 37 changes over the locking projection 34 and the lock arm 33 is elastically restored, and the locking surface 34A of the locking projection 34 and the locking receiving portion 37 are restored. The to-be-latched surface 37A is engaged with each other in the direction in which the sub-housing 36 is removed. Therefore, the lock arm 33 only displaces between a natural state and a state floating upward from the natural state during normal use.

  The cover 40 is formed of a synthetic resin material as a separate body from the bus bar housing portion 20, and has a cap shape with the front surface opened. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, the cover 40 includes a rear wall 40A constituting the back surface, a pair of left and right side walls 40B and 40C protruding forward from both side edges of the rear wall 40A, and the rear wall 40A. It consists of an upper wall 40E and a lower wall 40F that protrude forward from both upper and lower edges. The cover 40 is placed on the rear portion of the bus bar housing portion 20 so as to cover the bus bar mounting portion 24 so as to prevent the bus bar 11 from coming off, and the front edge thereof is formed on the step 21A of the fitting recess 21. It is possible to arrive. On both sides of the bus bar accommodating portion 20 and the lower wall 40F, both side receiving portions 43 that can be engaged with both side protrusions 27 formed on both side lower end portions of the rear surface of the bus bar mounting portion 24 are recessed. When the cover 40 is in the normal posture, the both-side protrusions 27 enter the both-side receiving portions 43 and the mounting operation of the cover 40 is allowed, but when the cover 40 is in the inverted posture, the both-side protrusions 27 This interferes with the upper wall 40E of the cover 40 so that the mounting operation of the cover 40 is prevented.

  A pair of left and right elastic locking portions 41 are formed at the center height positions of the side walls 40B and 40C of the cover 40 so as to be able to bend and deform inside and outside. The left side wall 40B of the side walls 40B, 40C is formed with a pair of upper and lower relief recesses 40F that allow the rail portion 25A of the mounting portion 25 to enter when the cover 40 is mounted, and between the escape recesses 40F. Thus, the elastic deformation portion 41 on the left side can be bent and deformed. Further, a pair of upper and lower slits 40G is formed on the right side wall 40C of the side walls 40B and 40C, and the right elastic locking portion 41 can be bent and deformed between the slits 40G. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a locking claw 41A is formed at the front end portion of the elastic locking portion 41 so as to protrude inward. When the cover 40 is mounted, the locking claw 41A rides on both side surfaces of the bus bar mounting portion 24 and the elastic locking portion 41 is bent and deformed. After that, the locking claw 41A fits into the locking hole 26. The elastic locking part 41 is elastically restored, and the cover 40 is attached to the bus bar accommodating part 20 in a state in which the cover 40 is prevented from coming off.

  On the front surface (inner side surface) of the rear wall 40A of the cover 40, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of engaging portions 42 (five in the case of illustration) 42 are formed at regular intervals in the width direction. . The engaging portion 42 has a rib shape extending in the height direction, and an engaging protrusion 42A that protrudes forward from a plurality of locations (three locations in the drawing) spaced apart in the height direction. The pressing portion 42B is located between the engaging protrusions 42A. The engaging portion 42 is adapted to be fitted into the engaging receiving portion 32 of the bus bar mounting portion 24 when the cover 40 is mounted. Further, the engaging portion 42 is chamfered over the entire circumference.

Now, as shown in FIG. 7, plate-like bending restricting portions 45 projecting forward at a predetermined interval in the width direction are formed in parallel on the upper wall 40 </ b> E of the cover 40. The bending restricting portion 45 is disposed at a position different from the locking position where the lock arm 33 locks the sub-housing 36 corresponding to each lock arm 33, and is inserted into the entrance groove 35 </ b> F as the cover 40 is mounted. By entering, it can come into contact with the lock arm 33 in the natural state on the tab piece 13 side.
The base end side of the bending restricting portion 45 is a wide and thick covering portion 44 that can cover the opening area in the rear end portion of the upper wall of the housing accommodating chamber 13, and the distal end side of the bending restricting portion 45 is the covering portion. A narrow and thin deflection restricting main body 45A that protrudes forward from a substantially central lower end of 44 in the width direction and can enter the entry groove 35F from the rear. The covering portion 44 covers the opening area described above, so that foreign matter can be prevented from entering the housing accommodation chamber 13.

  The bending restricting main body 45A can enter the entrance groove 35F without rattling in the width direction, and the entry operation is guided by the entry groove 35F. Further, a taper surface 45B is cut out at the top end portion of the upper surface of the deflection regulating main body portion 45A, and the deflection regulating main body portion 45A slides with the cutout surface 35A of the entry groove 35F so that the deflection regulation main body portion 45A becomes the entry groove. You are invited to 35F.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the bus bar 11 is attached to the bus bar accommodating portion 20 from behind by press-fitting. Then, the bus bar main body 12 is accommodated in the bus bar main body accommodating portion 30 of the bus bar mounting portion 24 in a close contact state, and the tip end portion of the tab piece 13 passes through the tab piece insertion hole 31 and enters the housing accommodating chamber 23 of the fitting recess 21. Arranged in a protruding state.

  After all the bus bars 11 have been inserted, the cover 40 is subsequently applied to the bus bar housing portion 20 from the rear, and the locking claws 41A of the elastic locking portions 41 are formed at the hole edges of the locking holes 26 on both sides of the bus bar housing portion 20. Elastically locked. Then, the cover 40 is detachably fixed to the bus bar housing part 20 and the bus bar 11 is held in the bus bar housing part 20 in a state of being prevented from being detached. At this time, the pressing portion 42B presses the rear end of the bus bar 11 to press-fit the bus bar 11 with a normal depth.

  Along with the mounting operation of the cover 40, the bending restricting main body 45A of the bending restricting portion 45 slidably enters the entry groove 35F. After that, when the cover 40 is properly attached to the bus bar housing portion 20, the tip of the deflection regulating main body portion 45A reaches a position close to the inner surface of the groove wall of the entry groove 35F, and the deflection regulating main body portion 45A, the lock arm 33, Can be contacted in a wide range in the front-rear direction.

  By the way, there is nothing that partitions between the lock arm 33 and the tab piece 13 before the cover 40 is mounted, so that the lock arm 33 may be elastically bent downward by receiving an external force in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. Therefore, the lock arm 33 and the tab piece 13 may abut against each other. However, after the cover 40 is mounted, since the bending restricting portion 45 is disposed below the lock arm 33 in the natural state and supports the lock arm 33, the lock arm 33 is restricted from being elastically bent downward. The lock arm 33 and the tab piece 13 do not hit each other.

  After the cover 40 is attached, the corresponding sub-housings 36 are inserted into the housing accommodating chambers 23 of the fitting recesses 21 from the front. If the sub-housing 36 is in the normal posture, the insertion operation proceeds due to the match between the guide portion 23A and the guide receiving portion 38, thereby confirming that the sub-housing 36 has been inserted in the normal posture.

  When the sub-housing 36 is normally inserted into the corresponding housing housing chamber 23 in this way, the locking projection 34 is elastically locked to the lock arm 33 formed in the bus bar housing portion 20 and the sub-housing 36 is prevented from coming off. In addition, a plurality of female terminal fittings accommodated in the sub-housing 36 are fitted in contact with the tab pieces 13 of the corresponding bus bars 11, so that the female terminal fittings are short-circuited for each row via the respective bus bars 11. Become.

According to the present embodiment, even if the lock arm 33 in the natural state receives an external force in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. Since the elastic arm restricts the elastic bending of the lock arm 33 toward the tab piece 13 by contacting the lock arm 33, the lock arm 33 and the tab piece 13 do not contact each other. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the lock arm 33 and the tab piece 13 are plastically deformed by the abutment of both.
Further, since the bending restricting portion 45 slidably enters the entry groove 35F of the lock arm 33 with the mounting operation of the cover 40, smoothness of the entering operation of the bending restricting portion 45 is ensured.

  Further, as the cover 40 is attached to the bus bar housing portion 20, the bending restricting portion 45 reaches a position where the elastic bending of the lock arm 33 can be restricted. It can be known that the bending is regulated. In addition, since the cover 40 has both a function for preventing the bus bar 11 from coming off and a function for restricting the elastic deflection of the lock arm 33, the number of parts can be reduced.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
(1) In the above embodiment, the entrance groove is formed in the lock arm. However, according to the present invention, the bending restricting portion abuts on the lock arm and the elastic bending of the lock arm toward the tab piece can be restricted. If so, there is no need for an entrance groove.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, the bus bar housing portion and the cover are formed as separate bodies. However, according to the present invention, they may be formed integrally with, for example, a hinge.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the fitting recess can accommodate a plurality of sub-housings. However, according to the present invention, the fitting recess has no partition, and one fitting recess has one counterpart. The housing may be accommodated.
(4) According to the present invention, the bending restricting portion is disposed between the lock arm and the tab piece, which are always in a natural state, in a non-contact state with the lock arm, and the lock arm is elastic to the tab piece side. You may comprise so that when it bends, it may contact | abut with the lock arm in the middle of the bending operation .

The side view which fractured | ruptured the principal part in the state in which the sub housing was inserted in the joint connector of this embodiment Side view with the main part broken before the sub-housing is inserted Partially broken bottom view Front view of bus bar housing Rear view of the bus bar housing Front view of cover Top view when the cover and the bus bar housing part are in a separated state Bottom view The left side view The right side view Plan view with sub-housing inserted

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Joint connector 11 ... Bus bar 13 ... Tab piece 20 ... Bus bar accommodating part 33 ... Lock arm 34 ... Locking protrusion 36 ... Sub housing 37 ... Locking receiving part 40 ... Cover 45 ... Deflection control part

Claims (2)

A bus bar provided with a tab piece connectable to the mating terminal fitting, and a fitting recess accommodating the bus bar and capable of fitting the mating housing on the front surface is opened, and the tab piece is inserted into the fitting recess. A joint connector having a bus bar housing part protruding from
A lock arm is formed that is exposed to the inside and outside of the peripheral wall of the fitting recess, and can be elastically locked in a state in which the mating housing that is normally inserted into the fitting recess is prevented from coming off,
The lock arm can be elastically bent in a direction approaching / separating from the tab piece, and further at a position closer to the tab piece than a position where the lock arm is in a natural state, and the lock arm. In a position different from the locking position for locking the mating housing, a deflection regulating portion is provided that regulates the elastic deflection of the lock arm toward the tab piece by contacting the lock arm.
A cover for preventing the bus bar from coming off is put on the rear part of the bus bar housing part, the bending restricting part is formed to project from the front surface of the cover, and the cover is A joint connector characterized in that the bending restricting portion reaches a position where elastic deformation of the lock arm can be restricted as it is attached to the bus bar accommodating portion . 2. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein an entrance groove into which the bending restricting portion slidably enters in accordance with the mounting operation of the cover is formed in the lock arm by a notch .

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