JP5406746B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector that can eliminate a backlash of a lock arm during fitting.

  Conventionally, a connector including a female connector housing having a hood-like fitting recess and a male connector housing fitted inside the fitting recess is known. In this type of connector, either one of the female and male connector housings is provided with a lock arm for holding the fitted state. Since this lock arm is usually cantilevered and elastically deformable, the lock provided at the tip of the lock arm is displaced while drawing a swinging locus along with the elastic deformation of the lock arm. To do. For this reason, when the female male connector housing is fitted while elastically bending the lock arm, the female male connector housing is fitted by engaging the lock portion of the lock arm with the engagement portion of the other connector housing. Kept in a state.

  However, since the lock portion is displaced while drawing a swinging locus, an engagement gap is formed between the lock portion and the engagement portion when normal fitting is reached, and this gap exists. Therefore, there is a possibility that minute backlash occurs. In addition, there is a problem that wear due to minute sliding between the terminals occurs between contact points of the terminals on the female connector housing side and the terminals on the male connector housing side.

  In view of this, there has been proposed a connector including a spring that urges the female and male connector housings in a direction to close the engagement gap between the lock portion and the engagement portion.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the connector described in Patent Document 1 includes a female connector housing 110 having a fitting recess 119, a housing 131 of a male connector 130 fitted inside the fitting recess 119, A lock arm 139 provided on the male connector housing 131 so as to be elastically deformable, a lock portion 138 that is formed on the lock arm 139 and that can be displaced while drawing a rocking locus along with the elastic deformation of the lock arm 139, and a female connector When the female connector housing 110 and the male connector housing 131 are fitted in the housing 110, the female connector housing 110 and the male connector housing 131 are fitted by engaging with a lock portion 138 provided on the lock arm 139. Engaging portion 118 held by female connector and female connector housing A spring piece 115 provided on the back wall 110 includes an opening 114 which is utilized to form the spring piece 115, a.

  In this connector, when the female connector housing 110 and the male connector housing 131 are fitted, the spring piece 115 is bent by being pushed by the male connector housing 131, and the male connector housing 131 is urged in the direction of arrow C by its elastic reaction force. As a result, the engagement gap between the lock portion 138 and the engagement portion 118 is closed to prevent rattling.

JP 2009-146603 A

  By the way, in the connector described in Patent Document 1, an opening 114 for forming the spring piece 115 is provided in the back wall of the fitting recess 119, but this opening 114 is closed even in the connector fitting state. Since it does not peel off, foreign matter such as dust and dirt is likely to enter the female connector housing 110 and the male connector housing 131, which may cause a contact failure.

  In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention is a connector that can prevent the entry of foreign matter into the housing and eliminate the possibility of causing contact failure while preventing backlash at the time of connector fitting with a spring piece. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 includes a female connector housing having a fitting recess, a male connector housing fitted in the fitting recess, and the female connector housing and the male connector housing. A lock arm provided on either one of the lock arm so as to be elastically deformable, a lock portion formed on the lock arm and capable of being displaced while drawing a swinging locus along with the elastic deformation of the lock arm, the female connector housing and the male When the female connector housing and the male connector housing are fitted on either one of the connector housings, the female connector housing and the male connector housing are fitted by engaging with a lock portion provided on the lock arm. An engagement portion for holding the state, the connector The male connector housing is formed integrally with the female connector housing on the back wall of the fitting recess of the housing, and the female connector housing and the male connector housing are engaged and the lock portion and the engaging portion are engaged. A spring piece that is pressed and deformed by an elastic reaction force generated by the bending deformation and closes the engagement gap between the lock portion and the engagement portion, and the spring is provided on the back wall of the fitting recess. An opening is provided for forming a piece, and an opening is provided that is closed by the spring piece when the spring piece is pushed by the male connector housing and deformed by bending.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the spring piece that exhibits the function of preventing rattling at the time of fitting the male and female connector housings is bent and deformed, the opening used to form the spring piece is closed by the spring piece. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the housing through the opening. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contact wear due to backlash while preventing the occurrence of contact failure due to the entry of foreign matter.

It is a perspective view which shows the state before the fitting of the connector of embodiment of this invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of the female connector housing of the connector. It is a horizontal sectional view showing the state where the male connector housing was fitted in the female connector housing. It is sectional drawing of the principal part which shows the engagement state of the lock part of the lock arm provided in the said male connector housing, and the lock part provided in the female connector housing. It is AA arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a sectional side view of the conventional connector.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a perspective view showing a state before the connector of the embodiment is fitted, FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the female connector housing of the connector, and FIG. 3 shows a state where the male connector housing is fitted to the female connector housing. FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part showing an engagement state between a lock portion of a lock arm provided on the male connector housing and a lock portion provided on the female connector housing, and FIG. 5 is an arrow AA in FIG. FIG.

  This connector is a combination of a female connector 10 and a male connector 30. The female connector 10 has a structure in which a pin-shaped first terminal 20 is integrally assembled with a female connector housing 11 made of a resin molded product having a fitting recess 19 in a front opening. The male connector 30 is obtained by assembling the second terminal 40 to a male connector housing 31 made of a resin molded product that is fitted into the fitting recess 19 of the female connector housing 11.

  The female connector housing 11 is a rectangular shape in front view having an upper wall 16, a lower wall 17, left and right side walls 12, and a rear wall 13, and the rear wall 13 is connected to the rear wall 13 a of the fitting recess 19. It has become. The pin-shaped first terminal 20 is provided integrally with the female connector housing 11 by setting the terminal 20 in a mold and insert-molding the female connector housing 11. The first terminal 20 has a U-shaped spring portion 21, and when the female connector housing 11 and the male connector housing 31 are fitted, the spring portion 21 is inserted into the insertion groove of the male connector housing 31. The terminal 20 is pressed against the second terminal 40 inside the male connector housing 31 through 35 so that both terminals 20 and 40 are brought into contact with each other.

  The male connector housing 31 is configured by overlapping upper and lower plate-shaped housings 31B and 31C on the upper and lower surfaces of the central plate-shaped housing 31A and locking them, and the second terminal 40 has a central plate-shaped housing. The housing 31A and the upper and lower plate-shaped housings 31B and 31C are accommodated in a cavity formed on the mating surface.

  On the upper surface of the upper housing 31B of the male connector housing 31, a cantilever type lock arm 39 having a front end 39a as a fixed end and a rear end 39b as a free end is provided so as to be elastically deflectable in the vertical direction. On the lock arm 39, there is provided a lock portion 38 that can be displaced while drawing a swinging locus along with the elastic deflection of the lock arm 39. Further, when the female connector housing 11 and the male connector housing 31 are fitted to the upper wall 16 of the female connector housing 11, the female connector housing 11 is engaged with the lock portion 38 provided on the lock arm 39. And the engaging part 18 which hold | maintains the male connector housing 31 in a fitting state is provided.

  Further, the back wall 13a of the fitting recess 19 of the female connector housing 11 is formed integrally with the female connector housing 11, and the female connector housing 11 and the male connector housing 31 are fitted to each other to lock the locking portion 38 and the engaging portion 18. When the is engaged, a spring piece 15 that is pushed and deformed by the male connector housing 31 and closes the engagement gap between the lock portion 38 and the engagement portion 18 by an elastic reaction force generated by the deformation is provided. An opening 14 is formed to open the spring piece 15 and to be closed by the spring piece 15 when the spring piece 15 is pushed and deformed by being pushed by the male connector housing 31. In this case, one end 15a of the spring piece 15 is fixed to the edge of the opening 14, and the other end 15b is a free end. The spring piece 15 is a convex curved portion formed between the one end 15a and the other end 15b. The top portion 15c is provided so as to protrude to the front side from the back wall 13a.

  When the female connector 10 and the male connector 30 thus configured are fitted, the male connector housing 31 enters the fitting recess 19 of the female connector housing 11 as shown in FIGS. The first terminal 20 on the connector 10 side and the second terminal 40 on the male connector 30 side are brought into contact with each other. At the same time, the lock portion 38 of the lock arm 39 engages with the engagement portion 18 of the female connector housing 11, and the female connector housing 11 and the male connector housing 31 are locked so as to maintain the fitted state.

  At the time of this fitting, the front end of the male connector housing 31 presses the spring piece 15 at the end of the fitting. When the spring piece 15 is pressed and deformed, an elastic reaction force is generated, and the male connector housing 31 is urged in the direction of arrow C by the elastic reaction force. Therefore, the urging force closes the engagement gap between the lock portion 38 and the engagement portion 18, thereby preventing backlash.

  At this time, the spring piece 15 is bent and deformed to close the opening 14, so that foreign matter can be prevented from entering the housings 11 and 31 through the opening 14. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contact failure of the terminals 20 and 40 due to backlash while preventing the occurrence of contact failure between the terminals 20 and 40 due to the intrusion of foreign matter.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Female connector housing 13a Back wall 18 Lock part 14 Opening part 15 Spring piece 19 Fitting recessed part 31 Male connector housing 38 Lock part 39 Lock arm

Claims (1)

A female connector housing having a fitting recess, a male connector housing fitted into the fitting recess, and a lock arm provided in one of the female connector housing and the male connector housing so as to be elastically deformable; A lock portion formed on the lock arm and displaceable while drawing a swinging locus along with elastic deformation of the lock arm; and provided on one of the female connector housing and the male connector housing; When the male connector housing is fitted, the connector includes an engaging portion that holds the female connector housing and the male connector housing in a fitted state by engaging with a lock portion provided on the lock arm. And
When the female connector housing is formed integrally with the female connector housing on the inner wall of the fitting recess of the female connector housing, the female connector housing and the male connector housing are engaged, and the locking portion and the engaging portion are engaged. A spring piece that is pushed and deformed by being pushed by the male connector housing and that closes the engagement gap between the lock portion and the engagement portion by an elastic reaction force generated by the bending deformation is provided.
An opening for forming the spring piece is formed in the inner wall of the fitting recess, and an opening that is closed by the spring piece when the spring piece is pushed and deformed by the male connector housing is provided. A connector characterized by that.

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