JP5075596B2 - housing - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector housing.

  In small connectors used for vehicle wiring, etc., the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal housing of the connector housing is generally locked by a terminal locking piece formed integrally with the connector housing. It is properly fixed to the storage part and prevented from falling off. Similarly, the connectors are connected by fitting with another connector to which the terminal fitting is fixed. At that time, the connectors are fixed to each other by a lock mechanism including a lock arm and a lock engaging portion formed on an outer peripheral portion of the connector, together with a connection force between the terminal fittings.

  And generally, the terminal metal fitting is provided with the barrel part which caulks the insulation coating of an electric wire, and the dimension of the diameter direction of a barrel part is formed larger than the connection part to which terminal metal fittings are connected. And the inner wall is formed in the terminal accommodating part of the connector housing which accommodates the terminal metal fitting according to the external shape of a terminal metal fitting.

  Furthermore, when the difference in the outer dimensions of the terminal fitting connection part and the barrel part is large, the step on the inner wall also becomes large, and when the outer peripheral surface of the housing is flattened, the part surrounding the connection part becomes very thick. End up. In this case, the weight of the connector housing and the waste of the molding material are generated, which may increase the cost.

As a technique for solving such a problem, for example, there is a technique in which the thickness of the portion facing the connecting portion of the housing and the portion facing the barrel portion are made uniform, and the portion facing the barrel portion is expanded outward. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this technique, the bulged portion is utilized as a handle for releasing the fitting between the connectors.
JP 2006-114287 A

However, if there is a bulged portion as described above, the amount of insertion of the housing is restricted by the bulged portion when another housing is fitted. Therefore, a problem that the position of the locking mechanism to couple the connectors from being constrained there is, to avoid the weight of the connector housing, another technique for reducing the waste of molding material has been demanded.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and it aims at providing the connector which can solve the said subject.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a connector housing. The housing includes a hood portion into which a housing of another connector to be fitted is inserted, and is a connector housing that is fitted to the other connector, and the other housing is located at an outer position from the front of the hood portion . A protrusion formed extending from the front opening along the insertion direction of the housing, the protrusion being engaged with a lock arm included in the other connector; and an insertion direction of the lock arm. A movement restricting portion for restricting movement in the lateral direction, and the movement restricting portion is a rib formed on both side surfaces of the protruding portion, and the rib is on both sides of the lock arm of the other connector. It is formed in the position which opposes an end, and is formed in the inside of the said food | hood part over the full depth.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when a connector is fitted and connected, it can prevent that a connection part shakes. From another point of view, it is possible to reduce the height, size and weight of the connector.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a fitting structure of a female connector (female terminal connector) to which a female terminal fitting is attached and a male connector (male terminal connector) to which a male terminal fitting is attached, particularly fitting The structure for preventing the side shake when the operation is performed will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a female terminal connector 1 and a male terminal connector 101 according to the present embodiment are fitted and connected. Here, illustration of the terminal fitting 90 is omitted. Further, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a fitting portion between the female terminal connector 1 and the male terminal connector 101. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the front and back of the fitting state of the female housing 10 and the male housing 110, and FIG. 3 (a) shows a state where the fitting state is released and separated. FIG. 3B shows a fitted state.

  As shown in the figure, when the female terminal connector 1 and the male terminal connector 101 are connected, the female housing 10 of the female terminal connector 1 is inserted into the cavity 160 of the male terminal connector 101 (mainly see FIG. 3). The terminal fittings 90 and 190 are connected to each other (mainly see FIG. 2). Further, the lock arm 20 of the female housing 10 and the protrusion 120 of the male housing 110 are locked. A locking mechanism by this locking will be described later. In this state, the female terminal connector 1 and the male terminal connector 101 are properly connected and fixed. Note that the female housing 10 and the male housing 110 are each integrally formed of resin. The terminal fittings 90 and 190 are formed by pressing a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape.

  First, the structure of the female housing 10 will be described. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the female housing 10 and shows the female housing 10 shown in FIG. 4B is a longitudinal sectional view of the female housing 10 in the front-rear direction (AA sectional view of FIG. 4A). As shown in the figure, the female housing 10 has a substantially box-shaped outer shape surrounded by an upper surface portion 11, a lower surface portion 12, a right side surface portion 13, and a left side surface portion 14, and the front surface portion 15 and the back surface portion 16 have openings. Is formed.

  A lock arm 20 that is elastically bent in the vertical direction is formed on the upper surface portion 11 of the female housing 10. More specifically, the rear end portion of the connector housing 10 extends rearward and slightly upward (upper left direction in FIG. 4A), with the position slightly forward from the center of the upper surface portion 11 as the arm base portion 24. The arm main body 21 extends to the end.

  Further, a female-side lock locking portion 22 that is convex upward in a sectional view is formed at a substantially central portion of the arm body 21. When the female housing 10 is fitted and connected to the male housing 110, the female side lock engaging portion 22 is engaged with a male side lock engaging portion 123 of the protrusion 120 described later, and the connection state is fixed. (See, for example, FIGS. 2 and 3).

  Furthermore, an arm operation unit 26 for bending the arm body 21 downward is provided at the distal end portion of the arm body 21. When the female housing 10 is removed from the male housing 110, the arm operation part 26 is operated downward, so that the female side lock engaging part 22 and the male side lock engaging part 123 are unlocked. In the released state, the female housing 10 and the male housing 110 can be separated forward and backward.

  Further, a lock arm retracting space 60 is formed between the lock arm 20 and the outer wall portion 38 constituting the rear portion of the upper surface portion 11 so that the lock arm 20 can be bent downward. . Further, a lock cover portion 29 is formed in an arch shape above the arm operation portion 26 at the rear end portion of the female housing 10 so that an unexpected operation on the lock arm 20 is not performed.

  Next, a housing structure for the terminal fitting 90 of the female housing 10 will be briefly described. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4A, the female housing 10 includes first to fourth through holes penetrating from the front surface portion 15 (left side in FIG. 4B) to the back surface portion 16 (right side in FIG. 4B). Terminal storage portions 31 to 34 are provided in two rows in each of the vertical and horizontal directions. Since the shapes of the first to fourth terminal accommodating portions 31 to 34 are the same, the first terminal accommodating portion 31 will be mainly described as a representative.

  Further, a lance 50 is formed on the inner upper wall surface (outer wall portion 38) of the first terminal storage portion 31 constituting the upper surface portion 11 so as to extend forward (leftward in the figure) slightly forward from the center. A lance locking portion 52 is formed on the front tip portion of the lance 50 so as to be convex and downward. Here, the lance root portion 53 at the extension point of the lance 50 is formed at substantially the same position as the arm root portion 24 as described above.

  When the terminal fitting 90 is attached to the first and third terminal accommodating portions 31 and 33, the lance locking portion 52 and the locking hole 92 of the terminal fitting 90 are fitted to each other. The fitting is properly performed, and the terminal fitting 90 is prevented from coming off.

  Further, the rear portions of the first terminal storage portion 31 and the third terminal storage portion 33 swell in the vertical direction so that the barrel portion 91 of the terminal fitting 90 can be stored. As a result, the outer periphery of the rear and lower portion of the third terminal storage portion 33 swells outward. And since the thickness of the lower surface part 12 is formed uniformly, the lower surface part 12 has an inflating part 72 having a shape in which the rear part swells relative to the front part as shown in the figure. Thus, a stepped portion 70 is formed at the front and rear boundary portions. As will be described later, the formation position of the stepped portion 70 does not reach the hood portion opening 140 that is the front portion of the male housing 110 when the female housing 10 is inserted into the male housing 110.

  Next, the structure of the male housing 110 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the male housing 110. 5B is a longitudinal sectional view of the male housing 110 in the front-rear direction (BB sectional view of FIG. 5A), and the terminal fitting 190 is attached only to the upper terminal storage chamber 130. FIG. It shows the state that was done.

  The male housing 110 is integrally formed with a resin having a shape in which two different box shapes in the front and rear are combined.

  Specifically, the male housing 110 is formed to be relatively small on the front side (left side in FIG. 5), which is a hood portion 110a that is a housing front portion that is relatively large, and on the rear side (right side in FIG. 5). Housing rear portion 110b.

  A cavity 160 into which the female housing 10 is inserted is formed in the hood portion 110a. In addition, a terminal housing chamber 130 is formed in the housing rear portion 110b, and a terminal fitting 190 is attached. Hereinafter, the housing front portion 110a and the housing rear portion 110b will be described more specifically.

  The hood portion 110a has an opening in the front portion 115, is surrounded by the upper surface portion 111, the lower surface portion 112, the front and rear boundary surface portions 116a, and both side surfaces 113 and 114, and includes a cavity 160 having a hollow inside.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the depth L1 of the cavity 160 (that is, the distance in the front-rear direction) is the level difference between the female housing 10 from the hood portion opening 140 that is the open end of the hood portion 110a in the state where the female housing 10 is inserted. Almost the same as the distance L2 to the formation position of the portion 70 (L1≈L2) or L1 is set slightly shorter than L2. That is, the lower surface portion 112 and the side surfaces 113 and 114 on both sides are set so as to be substantially at the same position as the stepped portion 70 when the female housing 10 is inserted.

  On the other hand, the upper surface portion 111 is formed by extending a protruding portion 120 that is narrower than the width of the hood portion opening 140 at the front end portion thereof, that is, the hood portion opening 140 of the cavity 160.

  A convex male side locking engagement portion 123 is formed on the lower end of the lower inner wall surface portion of the projecting portion 120. When the female housing 10 and the male housing 110 are fitted, the male lock locking portion 123 and the female lock locking portion 22 of the lock arm 20 are locked. That is, the extension length of the protruding portion 120 is a length that can be appropriately locked with the female-side lock locking portion 22, and is set so as not to reach the lock cover portion 29 here.

  Further, ribs 121 extending downward are formed at both end portions of the projecting portion 120. The height of the rib 121 is set so that the movement of the arm body 21 in the left-right direction can be restricted when the lock arm 20 is inserted. That is, each rib 121 is formed to face both side surfaces of the arm body 21. The distance between the inner wall surfaces of the two ribs 121 is substantially the same as the width of the lock arm 20. Further, the two ribs 121 are formed at the same height up to the rear surface 161 in the cavity, so that almost the entire arm body 21 can be inserted.

  Thus, the rib 121 is set so as to restrict the movement of the arm main body 21 in the vertical and horizontal directions. For this reason, when the lock arm 20 is inserted into the protrusion 120 as the female housing 10 and the male housing 110 are fitted, the movement of both side surfaces of the arm body 21 is restricted by the ribs 121. That is, the arm main body 21 does not swing sideways due to the rib 121.

  The housing rear portion 110b includes four terminal storage chambers 130 on the top, bottom, left, and right, and a lance 150 is formed on the front portion of the inner wall of each terminal storage chamber 130. When the terminal fitting 190 is locked to the lance 150, the terminal fitting 190 is mounted in the terminal storage chamber 130, and is prevented from being pulled out.

  The terminal storage chamber 130 has openings in the front / rear boundary surface portion 116a (inner cavity rear surface 161) and the housing rear end surface 116b, and communicates with the cavity 160 and the rear exterior of the male housing 110. The terminal fitting 190 is inserted from the opening on the rear side of the housing rear end surface 116 b, and the end of the terminal fitting 190 protrudes from the opening on the rear surface 161 in the cavity into the cavity 160.

  When the female terminal connector 1 and the male terminal connector 101 are connected as described above, for example, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained, and the male and female terminal fittings 90 and 190 are in contact with each other. The male housing 110 is fixed by the protrusion 120 and the lock arm 20.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the third and fourth terminal storage portions 33, 34 on the lower side of the female housing 10, the expansion portion 72 is formed in the rear portion and the barrel portion 91 of the terminal fitting 90 is stored. The front portion is made large enough to accommodate the front portion of the terminal fitting 90. Further, the thickness of the lower surface portion 12 was uniform from the front to the rear. With this configuration, the resin material of the lower surface portion 12 can be reduced and the female housing 10 (female terminal connector 1) can be reduced in weight. Moreover, since the front part from the level | step-difference part 70 of the female housing 10 can be made into the required and sufficient height, the height of the hood part opening 140 of the male housing 110 can be made low. That is, the height of the female terminal connector 1 and the male terminal connector 101 can be reduced. Furthermore, by providing the protrusions 120 having ribs 121 on both side surfaces, the length in the depth direction of the hood portion 110a can be supplemented, and the female housing 10 (female terminal connector 1) and the male housing 110 (male terminal connector). 101) can be kept in an appropriate state.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of these components, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, the ribs 121 are provided on the both side surfaces as movement restricting means for the lock arm 20 in the protruding portion 120. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other structures may be used as long as the lock arm 20 can be restricted from moving left and right. For example, a protrusion may be provided on the lower wall surface of the protrusion 120, a recess may be provided on the upper wall surface of the lock arm 20, and the protrusion and the recess may be engaged when the lock arm 20 is inserted. However, as described in the present embodiment, when the rib 121 is provided on both side surfaces of the projecting portion 120, the lateral swing of the lock arm 20 can be prevented very effectively. In addition, the terminal fitting attached to the female housing 10 and the terminal fitting attached to the male housing 110 may be configured such that males and females are interchanged.

It is a perspective view which shows the state which the connector for female terminals and the connector for male terminals based on embodiment fit. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting part of the connector for female terminals and the connector for male terminals based on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the front and back of the fitting state of the female housing and male housing based on embodiment. It is the perspective view and sectional drawing of a female housing based on embodiment. It is the perspective view and sectional drawing of the connector for male terminals which concern on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Female terminal connector 10 Female housing 20 Lock arm 21 Arm main body 22 Female side lock latching part 24 Arm base part 26 Arm operation part 29 Lock cover parts 31-34 1st-4th terminal storage part 50,150 Lance 52 Lance locking portion 60 Lock arm retracting space 70 Stepped portion 72 Expansion portion 90 Terminal fitting 91 Barrel portion 101 Male terminal connector 110 Male housing 110a Hood portion 110b Housing rear portion b
116a Front and rear boundary surface portion 116b Housing rear end surface 120 Projection portion 121 Rib 123 Male lock locking portion 130 Terminal storage chamber 140 Hood portion frontage 160 Cavity 161 Cavity rear surface 190 Terminal fitting

Claims (1)

A housing of a connector that includes a hood portion into which a housing of another connector to be fitted is inserted, and is fitted to the other connector,
A protrusion formed to extend along the insertion direction of the other housing at a position on the outer side from the front of the hood portion;
The protruding portion is a locking portion that locks with a lock arm included in the other connector,
A movement restricting portion for restricting movement in a lateral direction with respect to the insertion direction of the lock arm ,
The movement restricting portion is a rib formed on both side surfaces of the protruding portion toward the inside of the hood portion,
The rib of the connector is formed in the position which opposes the both ends of the lock arm of the other connector, and is formed in the inside of the hood part over the full depth .

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