JP4523403B2 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector that can be used, for example, in a wire harness of an automobile.

  In the conventional electrical connector of this type, as shown in Patent Document 1 shown in FIG. It is known that the connecting terminal 2 is locked by 4 so that it does not come out backward, and the front holder 5 engaged with the front portion of the housing 3 is inserted to secure the locking force of the locking arm 4. .

  In this case, if it is necessary to remove the connection terminal 2 from the housing 3, the locking arm 4 must be released from the connection terminal 2. Therefore, since it is necessary to insert the jig T from the front of the housing 3, the front holder 5 is pulled out of the housing 3 to be temporarily locked, and the locking arm 4 is inserted by inserting the jig T into the gap. To release.

  This temporary locking state is not only performed when the connection terminal 2 is removed, but also when the connection terminal 2 is newly inserted during assembly.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-77578

  However, at the time of assembly, the front holder 5 as shown in FIG. 11 is in a temporarily locked state and is often delivered to the harness manufacturer without the connection terminal 2 inserted, and is locked in the temporarily locked state. However, the front holder 5 may be inserted into the housing 3 due to an accidental drop during transportation or work, which may cause damage or hinder subsequent work.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that solves the above-mentioned problems and ensures the safety of work without causing the front holder to temporarily move from the temporarily locked state during assembly. .

In order to achieve the above object, an electrical connector according to the present invention has a housing in which a connection terminal connected to a rear portion of an electric wire is accommodated in a housing, and is locked so that the connection terminal does not come out backward by a locking arm provided in the housing. In addition, in the electrical connector that secures the locking force of the locking arm with respect to the connection terminal by the arm pressing portion of the front holder engaged with the front portion of the housing, the front holder has a plurality of connection end insertion holes. At the same time, a stopper that can move up and down is attached to the housing side, and the stopper has a through hole that matches the connection end insertion hole of the front holder in a state where it is raised with respect to the front holder, and is sufficiently inserted into the housing. It is possible to move between the fully locked state and the temporarily locked state where the insertion is not sufficient, and the stopper is raised in the fully locked state. And pressing the locking arm by the arm pressing portion to ensure the locking force of the connection terminal, and in the temporary locking state, the stopper is lowered to make a part of the stopper a part of the housing. The front holder cannot be inserted by abutting.

  According to the electrical connector of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the front holder in the temporarily locked state before assembly from moving unintentionally using the stopper.

The present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.
1 is a perspective view of the electrical connector, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view seen from the front, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the rear of the front holder 12 and the stopper 13. This electrical connector is composed of three synthetic resin members, excluding connection terminals. That is, a housing 11 for storing connection terminals, a front holder 12 mounted on the front surface of the housing 11, and a stopper 13 that is movably mounted in the vertical direction on the back side of the front holder 12, that is, on the housing 11 side of the front holder 12. It is made up.

  FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector in the final locking state capable of receiving the mating connection terminal, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. For example, four terminal accommodating holes 14 are formed in the housing 11 made of synthetic resin, and a locking arm 15 having elasticity and a downward urging force is provided above each terminal accommodating hole 14. Is formed. A female connection terminal 17 with an electric wire 16 is inserted into the terminal accommodating hole 14 from the rear of the housing 11, and the rear portion of the connection portion 17 a of the connection terminal 17 is locked by the claw portion 15 a of the locking arm 15. The escape to the is prevented.

  In addition, on both inner side portions of the housing 11, engaging portions 11 a that come into contact when the pressing restricting piece 20 of the front holder 12 is lowered are formed.

  A front holder 12 is attached to the front portion of the housing 11 in a fully locked state with respect to the housing 11, and mating insertion connection terminals corresponding to the number of the terminal receiving holes 14 are inserted into the front holder 12. The connecting end insertion hole 18 is opened.

  A stopper 13 that can be moved up and down with respect to the front holder 12 is attached to the back surface of the front holder 12, and the stopper 13 is formed with the same number of through holes 19 that match the connection end insertion holes 18 of the front holder 12. Yes. Further, on both sides of the rear portion of the stopper 13, push-in restricting pieces 20 are provided toward the rear.

  Furthermore, a total of five arm pressing portions 21 project from the front holder 12 toward the rear, above both sides of the locking arm 15, in the middle of the connection end insertion hole 18, and a groove portion is formed between the arm pressing portions 21. 22 is formed. Further, stopper operating grooves 23 and 24 for moving the stopper 13 are provided at the lower and upper parts of the front holder 12, respectively.

  The front holder 12 can be moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing 11 and can be engaged in an actual locking state and a temporary locking state by an engagement mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the final locking state where the front holder 12 is in the normal position, the stopper 13 is raised on the back side of the front holder 12, and the through hole 19 of the stopper 13 is a connection end insertion hole. 18 matches.

  In this state, the arm pressing portions 21 on both sides are inserted into the upper portion of the locking arm 15, and the locking arm 15 is pressed downward so that the locking arm 15 securely locks the female connection terminal 17. Yes.

  A cylindrical sealing member 25 for securing waterproofness by being joined to the counterpart housing is disposed in the housing 11 further deeper than the front holder 12, and each of the electric wires 16 of the female connection terminals 17 has a sealing member. 26 is attached. The cross section of the inlet portion on the rear surface of the terminal accommodating hole 14 has a vertically long oval shape, and the seal member 26 into which the electric wire 16 is inserted is also deformed to the same shape following this shape. In addition, the housing 11 is provided with a locking lever 27 that performs a locking action when fitted to the counterpart housing.

  6 is a perspective view of a temporarily locked state in which the front holder 12 is pulled out from the housing 11 in order to release the locking arm 15 from the connection terminal 17, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view thereof. This temporarily locked state is made when the connector is assembled and the connection terminal 17 is attached, or when the connection terminal 17 is removed. When removing the connection terminal 17, it is necessary to insert a jig in order to operate the locking arm 15. However, since the jig cannot be inserted when the front holder 12 is in the final locking state shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the front holder 12 is pulled out into a temporarily locked state.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 8, the jig T is inserted into the groove portion 22 from the gap between the front holder 12 and the housing 11, and the locking arm 15 is lifted to connect the connection terminal 17 of the locking arm 15. The connection terminal 17 can be pulled out to the rear of the housing 11.

  At this time, according to the conventional practice, a jig may be inserted from the connection end insertion hole 18 to damage the internal connection terminal 17. To prevent this, the stopper 13 is lowered to connect the connection end insertion hole. It is preferable to work by closing 18 with a stopper 13.

  When housing the connection terminal 17 in the housing 11 again, as shown in FIG. 7, the front holder 12 is locked in the temporarily locked state, and the connection terminal 17 is inserted into the terminal receiving hole 14 from the rear of the housing 11. insert. When the connection portion 17a of the connection terminal 17 pushes up the elastic locking arm 15 and is fully inserted into the terminal receiving hole 14, the locking arm 15 is restored downward, and the claw portion 15a is connected to the connection terminal. It is located in the rear part of 17 connection parts 17a.

  Thereafter, by pushing the front holder 12 toward the housing 11, the front holder 12 shifts from the temporarily locked state to the fully locked state, and the arm pressing portion 21 of the front holder 12 slides above the locking arm 15. Thus, the locking arm 15 is pressed downward. When the stopper 13 is lowered when the locking arm 15 is released, the stopper 13 needs to be raised and pushed in for the reason described later.

  When the electrical connector is assembled, that is, when the electrical connector is transported from the connector manufacturer to the harness manufacturer, the front holder 12 is temporarily locked to the housing 11 as shown in FIG. The stopper 13 is lowered with respect to the front holder 12. In this state, even if the front holder 12 is pushed into the housing 11, the pushing restriction piece 20 of the stopper 13 collides with the engaging portion 11 a of the housing 11, and the front holder 12 cannot be pushed. Therefore, in this state, the front holder 12 will not be inserted into the housing 11 even if an impact or the like is applied when the electrical connector is transported.

  After each connection terminal 17 is inserted into the terminal accommodating hole 14, the stopper operating groove 24 is used to push up the stopper 13 with respect to the front holder 12 as shown in FIG. If the front holder 12 is pushed into the housing 11, the front holder 12 can be pushed in without the pushing restriction piece 20 of the stopper 13 coming into contact with the engaging portion 11 a of the housing 11.

  When the connection terminal 17 is inserted into the terminal accommodating hole 14, if the connection terminal 17 is not sufficiently inserted, even if the stopper 13 is raised and the front holder 12 is pushed in, as shown in FIG. Is not obstructed by the connection portion 17 a of the connection terminal 17 and thus has not been lowered completely, the tip of the locking arm 15 collides with the arm pressing portion 21 of the front holder 12, and the front holder 12 is inserted into the housing 11. It will not be possible. Thereby, it can be detected that the connection terminal 17 is not inserted into a predetermined position in the housing 11.

  In the embodiment, the connection terminal is described as a female connection terminal. However, by changing the shape of the stopper 13, a male connection terminal can be used.

It is a perspective view of an electrical connector. It is a disassembled perspective view of a connector. It is the perspective view seen from the back of a front holder and a stopper. It is a front view in which the front holder is fully locked. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is a perspective view of a temporary latching state. It is sectional drawing of the temporary latching state which pulled out the front holder. It is explanatory drawing which cancels | releases a latching arm using a jig | tool. It is sectional drawing which lowered | hung the stopper. It is explanatory drawing of the process of inserting a connection terminal. It is sectional drawing of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Housing 12 Front holder 13 Stopper 14 Terminal accommodation hole 15 Locking arm 17 Female connection terminal 18 Connection end insertion hole 19 Through hole 20 Pushing restriction piece 21 Arm pressing part 22 Groove part 23, 24 Stopper operation groove

Claims (6)

A connection terminal having a wire connected to the rear portion is accommodated in a housing, and the connection terminal is locked by a locking arm provided in the housing so that the connection terminal does not come out backward, and the front holder engaged with the front portion of the housing In the electrical connector that secures the locking force of the locking arm with respect to the connection terminal by the arm pressing portion, the front holder has a plurality of connection end insertion holes and a vertically movable stopper attached to the housing side, and the stopper Is in a state of being raised with respect to the front holder, and has a through hole that matches the connection end insertion hole of the front holder, and is in a fully locked state in which the housing is fully inserted and a temporarily locked state in which the insertion is not sufficient. The stopper is raised in the fully locked state and the locking arm is pushed by the arm pressing portion. Securing the locking force of the connection terminal and lowering the stopper in the temporarily locked state so that a part of the stopper comes into contact with a part of the housing and the front holder cannot be inserted. Characteristic electrical connector.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a pressing restriction piece is provided on the stopper, and the pushing restriction piece is brought into contact with a part of the housing when the stopper is lowered.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a stopper operation groove for vertically moving the stopper is provided in the front holder.   In the temporarily locked state of the front holder, a gap is provided between the front holder and the housing, and a jig for operating the locking arm can be inserted into the housing from the gap. The electrical connector according to claim 1.   2. The arm pressing portion is formed in a protruding piece shape, and enters the upper side of the locking arm when the front holder shifts from the temporarily locked state to the fully locked state. Electrical connector as described in.   2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the front holder can be locked to the housing by a lock in the main locking state and the temporary locking state.

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