JP5534504B2 - Low insertion force connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a low insertion force connector.

  FIG. 11 shows a conventional example of a connector for large current that can be used for connecting a motor and a power source, for example.

  The connector 1 includes a first housing 5 that holds a plurality of first tab terminals 3 protruding in the central axis direction, and a second housing 7 that is fitted and connected to the first housing 5.

  The distal end surface of the second housing 7 is provided with a plurality of mating terminal receiving holes 9 into which the first tab terminals 3 are inserted when the housings are fitted together. The plurality of mating terminal receiving holes 9 are provided at the same arrangement pitch as the arrangement pitch of the first tab terminals 3 on the first housing 5.

  Although not shown, each mating terminal receiving hole 9 is equipped with a female tab terminal that holds the first tab terminal 3 inserted into the mating terminal receiving hole 9. The first housing 5 is provided with an alignment protrusion 11, and the second housing 7 is provided with an alignment hole 13 into which the protrusion 11 is fitted. If the alignment protrusion 11 and the alignment hole 13 are not aligned, the housings cannot be fitted to each other, and erroneous insertion can be prevented.

  The above connector 1 is configured such that when the first housing 5 and the second housing 7 are fitted together, the first tab terminal 3 is simultaneously held by the mating female tab terminal. In addition to the frictional force between the fitting portions between the housings, the frictional force between the tab terminals also acts. The frictional force between the tab terminals increases as the number of terminals to be connected increases.

  For this reason, a large operating force is required when the housings are inserted and removed, and there is a problem that workability is poor because the burden on the worker is large.

  Accordingly, a connector shown in FIG. 12 has been proposed as a connector capable of fitting housings with a low insertion force.

  This connector 15 is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, and after the first housing 16 and the second housing 18 are fitted in the same position, the housings are rotated relative to each other by a predetermined angle around the central axis. In this way, a connected state is established.

  The first connection terminal 19 provided in the first housing 16 has a structure in which a hole 19a into which a mating terminal is loosely fitted is provided at the tip. The second connection terminal 21 provided in the second housing 18 includes a needle-like terminal body 21a whose tip is loosely fitted in the hole 19a when the housings are fitted to each other, and a base end of the terminal body 21a. And a terminal base 21b to be fixed to the terminal.

  In this connector 15, when the housings are fitted to each other, only the tip of the second connection terminal 21 is loosely fitted in the hole 19 a of the first connection terminal 19, and no friction occurs between the terminals. Therefore, the operating force at the time of insertion / extraction does not increase.

  Then, when the fitted housings are rotated relative to each other, as shown in FIG. 13, the position of the first connection terminal 19 and the position of the second connection terminal 21 are moved relative to each other in the circumferential direction, so that the positional shift of the distance L1 occurs. Due to this displacement, opposite shearing forces F1 and F2 are applied to both ends of the needle-like terminal body 21a. Then, due to the bending deformation of the terminal body 21a due to the shearing forces F1 and F2, the tip of the terminal body 21a is pressed into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hole 19a, and the first connection terminal 19 and the second connection terminal 21 are electrically connected. Connected.

  Note that an engagement protrusion 23 projects from the inner periphery of the cylindrical hood portion 18 a at the tip of the second housing 18. A guide groove 25 into which the engaging protrusion 23 can enter is cut out in the cylindrical wall 16a of the first housing 16 that is rotatably fitted to the hood portion 18a.

  The guide groove 25 includes a fitting guide groove 25a extending along the central axis direction, and a rotation guide groove 25b extending in the circumferential direction from the end of the fitting guide groove 25a.

  Position restriction at the time of relative rotation between the housings is performed by the engagement between the engagement protrusion 23 and the rotation guide groove 25b. A lock spring 26 is provided near the end of the rotation guide groove 25b so as to protrude into the groove. This lock spring 26 prevents the relative rotation between the housings from returning by locking the engagement protrusion 23 that has moved over the lock spring 26 and moved to the end side of the rotation guide groove 25b between the end of the groove. To do.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 06-72185

  However, the connector 15 described in Patent Document 1 causes the needle-like terminal body 21a to bend and deform by the displacement when the fitted housings 16 and 18 are relatively rotated, and the tip of the terminal body 21a is moved to the first position. There is a problem that the contact area between the first connection terminal 19 and the second connection terminal 21 cannot be increased because it is pressed against the inner periphery of the hole 19a of the connection terminal 19 and cannot be used for a connector for a large current. It was.

  In addition, the lock spring 26 restricts the relative rotation of the housings from returning due to the engagement protrusion 23 being locked, but the restriction force is small because the lock spring 26 itself is small. For this reason, there is a possibility that the engagement by the lock spring 26 is released and a contact failure between the first connection terminal 19 and the second connection terminal 21 occurs.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can reduce the burden on workers during the insertion / extraction operation between the housings, and furthermore, a large contact between the tab terminals provided in each housing. An object of the present invention is to provide a low insertion force connector capable of securing an area.

The above-described object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) a first housing holding a plurality of first tab terminals projecting in the direction of the central axis around the central axis;
After the phase is matched with the initial fitting position on the central axis of the first housing and fitted to the first housing, the phase is relatively rotated about the central axis by a predetermined angle to be connected to the first housing. A second housing;
A plurality of mating terminal receiving spaces formed in the second housing to allow displacement of the first tab terminals with the relative rotation;
The second tab terminal held by the second housing at the end of the mating terminal receiving space so that the first tab terminal comes into surface contact with the first tab terminal when the relative rotation is completed. When,
A low insertion force connector characterized by comprising:

  (2) The above-mentioned (1), wherein at least one of the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal is provided with an elastic contact piece that elastically contacts the surface of the mating tab terminal that makes surface contact. Low insertion force connector as described in

(3) A plurality of fitting protrusions projecting at a plurality of locations around the central axis of one of the first housing and the second housing, and the plurality of fitting protrusions are fitted. And a plurality of insertion holes formed in the other housing,
Except when the first housing and the second housing are opposed to each other in the state where the initial fitting positions are aligned, the housings cannot be fitted to each other due to misalignment of the fitting protrusions and the fitting holes. The low insertion force connector according to (1) or (2), wherein an arrangement pitch of the fitting protrusions and the fitting holes is set.

  According to the configuration of (1) above, when the first housing and the second housing are fitted, the first tab terminal is not in contact with the second tab terminal and no friction occurs between the terminals. The operation force at the time of insertion / extraction does not increase by mutual fitting. Therefore, the housings can be fitted with each other with a low insertion force. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the worker when inserting and removing the housings, and to improve the workability of the connector connecting work.

  Further, after the first housing and the second housing are fitted to each other, the first housing and the second housing are connected to each other by being relatively rotated about the central axis by a predetermined angle. When the relative rotation is completed, the first tab terminal held in the first housing and the second tab terminal held in the second housing come into contact with each other, and the tab terminals are in a conductive connection state. Since the contact between the tab terminals is realized by surface contact, a large contact area can be secured between the tab terminals. Therefore, it can be used as a connector for large current while being a low insertion force connector.

  According to the configuration of (2) above, a stable contact pressure and contact area can be secured between the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal without being affected by dimensional tolerances and assembly errors in each housing. The reliability as a connector can be improved.

  According to the configuration of (3) above, the arrangement of the fitting projections and the fitting holes in each housing functions as an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated erroneous insertion prevention mechanism, and the structure of each housing can be prevented from becoming complicated due to the erroneous insertion prevention mechanism.

  According to the low insertion force connector according to the present invention, when the first housing and the second housing are fitted, the first tab terminal is not in contact with the second tab terminal, and friction does not occur between the terminals. The operation force at the time of insertion / extraction does not increase due to the mutual fitting of the terminals. Therefore, the housings can be fitted with each other with a low insertion force. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the worker when inserting and removing the housings, and to improve the workability of the connector connecting work.

  Further, after the first housing and the second housing are fitted to each other, the first housing and the second housing are connected to each other by being relatively rotated about the central axis by a predetermined angle. When the relative rotation is completed, the first tab terminal held in the first housing and the second tab terminal held in the second housing come into contact with each other, and the tab terminals are in a conductive connection state. Since the contact between the tab terminals is realized by surface contact, a large contact area can be secured between the tab terminals. Therefore, it can be used as a connector for large current while being a low insertion force connector.

It is the disassembled perspective view seen from diagonally upward of one Embodiment of the low insertion force connector which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the low insertion force connector shown in FIG. 1 as viewed obliquely from below. (A) is a perspective view showing the structure of the fitting portion (tip portion) side of the first housing shown in FIG. 1, and (b) is the fitting portion (tip portion) side of the second housing shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a structure. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first tab terminal held by a first housing shown in FIG. 2. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance at the time of the fitting state of the 1st housing and 2nd housing which are shown in FIG. (A) is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal before relative rotation of the first housing and the second housing fitted in the initial fitting position, and (b) The cross-sectional view which shows the positional relationship of the 1st tab terminal and the 2nd tab terminal in the middle of relative rotation of the 1st housing and the 2nd housing, (c) is the 1st at the time of completion of relative rotation of the 1st housing and the 2nd housing. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the contact state of a housing and a 2nd housing. (A) is the perspective view which looked at the 2nd tab terminal hold | maintained at the 2nd housing shown in FIG. 2 from the surface side which contacts a 1st tab terminal, (b) is seen from the back surface side of the said 2nd tab terminal. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG.6 (c). It is a BB cross-sectional perspective view of FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional connector for large currents. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional low insertion force connector. It is explanatory drawing of the connection state of the terminals in the low insertion force connector shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a low insertion force connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a low insertion force connector according to the present invention as seen from obliquely above, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the low insertion force connector shown in FIG.

  The low insertion force connector 31 of this embodiment includes a resin-made first housing 41 and a resin-made second housing 51 connected to the tip of the first housing 41.

  In the first housing 41, a tip end portion (a lower end portion in FIGS. 1 and 2) 41 a serves as a fitting portion that fits into the second housing 51.

  Further, the second housing 51 has a front end portion (upper end portion in FIGS. 1 and 2) 51 a serving as a fitting portion that fits into the first housing 41.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the first housing 41 has a cylindrical boss portion 42 protruding from the center of the tip end portion 41a. Further, the outer periphery of the distal end portion 41 a of the first housing 41 is a cylindrical portion 43 concentric with the boss portion 42. The front end portion 41 a of the first housing 41 is recessed between the boss portion 42 and the cylindrical portion 43. The recess 44 is a space in which the tip 51a of the second housing 51 is fitted.

  The first housing 41 holds a plurality of first tab terminals 61 around the central axis O1. Each first tab terminal 61 is a press-formed product of a metal plate, and has a simple strip shape as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the first tab terminal 61 is held by the first housing 41 such that the distal end 61 a projects into the recess 44 and the proximal end 61 b projects toward the proximal end side of the first housing 41. Has been. In addition, the hole shown with the code | symbol 61c does not function in the 1st tab terminal 61, but functions as the locking hole 71c in the 2nd tab terminal 71 so that it may mention later.

The tip 61a of the first tab terminal 61 protrudes along the direction of the central axis O1 of the first housing 41.
Although not shown, an electric wire is connected to the base end 61 b of the first tab terminal 61.

  In the recess 44 of the first housing 41 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of fitting protrusions for connecting to the second housing 51 are provided between adjacent first tab terminals 61, 61. 46 is protrudingly provided. Each fitting projection 46 includes a fitting shaft portion 46a extending along the central axis O1, and a retaining portion 46b for retaining the projection projecting radially outward from the tip of the fitting shaft portion 46a. It has a configuration with

  The second housing 51 has a center hole 52 through which the boss portion 42 of the first housing 41 fits rotatably. Further, the distal end portion 51 a of the second housing 51 has a columnar shape that is rotatably fitted to the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 43. The outer periphery of the tip 51a and the center hole 52 are concentric. 1 to 3 is a central axis of the second housing 51 and passes through the center of the central hole 52. The distal end portion 51a of the second housing 51 is set to have a smaller diameter than the proximal end portion 51b.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, a plurality of mating terminal accommodation spaces 53 and a plurality of insertion holes 55 are provided on the distal end surface of the second housing 51.

  The mating terminal accommodating space 53 is a space for accommodating the tip 61 a of the first tab terminal 61 of the first housing 41.

  The fitting hole 55 is a hole into which the fitting protrusion 46 protruding from the recess 44 of the first housing 41 is fitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mating terminal accommodating space 53 and the fitting hole 55 align the central axis O2 of the second housing 51 with the central axis O1 of the first housing 41, and the phase of each housing (position in the circumferential direction). When the housings are fitted to each other in accordance with the initial fitting position, the corresponding fitting projection 46 and the first tab terminal 61 are inserted.

  FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal before the first housing and the second housing, which are fitted at the initial fitting position, are relatively rotated. (B) is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal during the relative rotation of the first housing and the second housing, and FIG. 6 (c) is the relative relationship between the first housing and the second housing. It is a cross-sectional view showing a contact state between the first housing and the second housing when the rotation is completed. The initial fitting position will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the mating terminal receiving space 53 is rotated relative to the housing 41, 51 with respect to the center axis O1 by a predetermined angle, each first tab terminal associated with the relative rotation is provided. It is formed so as to expand in the circumferential direction so as to allow displacement of 61 in the circumferential direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6C, the second housing 51 is arranged so that the first tab terminal 61 comes into surface contact with the first tab terminal 61 when the relative rotation between the housings is completed. The second tab terminal 71 is held at the terminal portion of the terminal accommodating space 53.

  The second tab terminal 71 has the same shape as the first tab terminal 61 shown in FIG. 4, and is a metal plate press-molded product for ensuring contact with the first tab terminal 61, as shown in FIG. A rectangular contact piece 75 is attached.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the contact piece 75 is provided with an elastic contact piece 73 that elastically contacts the surface of the first tab terminal 61. The elastic contact piece 73 is formed by punching. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, the contact piece 75 has an elastic retaining piece 74 for retaining to be engaged with an engaging hole 71 c formed in the second tab terminal 71 on the back surface side thereof. Projected. The elastic locking piece 74 is formed by cutting and raising.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the second tab terminal 71 is held by the second housing 51 such that the base end portion 71 a protrudes from the base end of the second housing 51. An electric wire is connected to the base end portion 71a.

  When the relative rotation between the housings is completed as shown in FIG. 6C, the elastic contact piece 73 is in surface contact with the first tab terminal 61 in a state of being compressed and deformed. A stable contact pressure and contact area between the tab terminal 71 and the tab terminal 71 can be ensured.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each insertion hole 55 includes an initial insertion hole 81 and a rotation guide groove 83 formed extending from the initial insertion hole 81 in the circumferential direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the initial insertion hole 81 is a hole through which the fitting protrusion 46 is inserted when the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are fitted at the initial fitting position.

  As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the rotation guide groove 83 allows the fitting shaft portion 46a to move in the circumferential direction of the fitting projection 46 when the housings are rotated relative to each other. It is a groove.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a locking space 85 that allows the locking portion 46 b to move in the circumferential direction is formed on the back side of the outer peripheral edge 83 a of the rotation guide groove 83. The range on the outer peripheral side of the locking space 85 is formed so as to penetrate the proximal end side of the second housing 51 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10.

  When the second housing 51 is rotated relative to the central axis O1 by a predetermined angle after being fitted to the first housing 41 with the phase adjusted to the initial fitting position on the central axis O1 of the first housing 41, As shown in FIG. 8, the engaging portion 46 b engages with the back of the edge portion 83 a, and the fitting protrusion 46 cannot be removed from the fitting hole 55.

  That is, after the second housing 51 is fitted to the first housing 41 at the initial fitting position, the second housing 51 is connected to the first housing 41 by being relatively rotated about the central axis O1 by a predetermined angle.

  Furthermore, in the low insertion force connector 31 of the present embodiment, the arrangement pitch of the plurality of fitting protrusions 46 is not partially divided but partially changed. This is to prevent erroneous insertion when the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are fitted.

  In other words, in this embodiment, the positions of the fitting protrusions 46 and the fitting holes 55 are not correct except when the first housing 41 and the second housing are fitted to face each other with their initial fitting positions aligned. The arrangement pitch of the fitting projections 46 and the fitting holes 55 is set so that the housings cannot be fitted to each other due to the alignment.

  The initial fitting position is a position where the arrangement of the fitting projections 46 on the first housing 41 and the arrangement of the fitting holes 55 on the second housing 51 are aligned, although not shown. An alignment mark or the like for aligning the initial fitting position is provided on the outer peripheral surface of.

  In the low insertion force connector 31 described above, the first tab terminal 61 contacts the second tab terminal 71 as shown in FIG. 6A when the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are fitted together. In addition, since friction does not occur between the terminals, the operation force at the time of insertion / extraction does not increase due to the mutual fitting of the terminals. Therefore, the housings can be fitted with each other with a low insertion force. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the worker when inserting and removing the housings, and to improve the workability of the connector connecting work.

  Further, after the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are fitted to each other, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are rotated relative to each other around the central axis O1 by a predetermined angle. Become. When the relative rotation between the housings is completed, the first tab terminal 61 held by the first housing 41 and the second tab terminal 71 held by the second housing 51 as shown in FIG. And the tab terminals are in a conductive connection state. Since the contact between the tab terminals is realized by surface contact, a large contact area can be secured between the tab terminals. Therefore, although it is the low insertion force connector 31, it can be utilized as a connector for large current.

  Further, the conductive connection between the first tab terminal 61 and the second tab terminal 71 is realized by the surface contact with the first tab terminal 61 in a state where the elastic contact piece 73 provided on the second tab terminal 71 is elastically deformed. Has been.

  Therefore, a stable contact pressure and a contact area can be secured between the first tab terminal 61 and the second tab terminal 71 without being affected by dimensional tolerances and assembly errors in each housing, and reliability as a connector. Can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the low insertion force connector 31 of the present embodiment, if the first housing 41 and the second housing 51 are not fitted in accordance with the initial fitting position, the housing is caused by the misalignment of the fitting projection 46 and the fitting hole 55. The arrangement pitch of the fitting projections 46 and the fitting holes 55 is set so that they cannot be fitted to each other.

  That is, the arrangement itself of the fitting protrusions 46 and the fitting holes 55 in each housing functions as an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated erroneous insertion prevention mechanism, and the structure of each housing can be prevented from becoming complicated due to the erroneous insertion prevention mechanism.

  In the above embodiment, the elastic contact piece 73 that elastically contacts the first tab terminal 61 and the second tab terminal 71 is provided on the second tab terminal 71. However, the elastic contact piece 73 may protrude from the first tab terminal 61. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which protruded the elastic contact piece 73 in both the 1st tab terminal 61 and the 2nd tab terminal 71. FIG.

  Further, the low insertion force connector of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified and improved. In addition, the material, shape, dimension, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

31 Low insertion force connector 41 First housing 42 Boss portion 43 Cylindrical portion 44 Dimple 46 Fitting for fitting 46a Fitting shaft portion 46b Locking portion 51 Second housing 51a Tip portion 51b Base end portion 52 Center hole 53 Counter terminal receiving space 55 Insertion hole 61 First tab terminal 61a Tip 61b Base end 71 Second tab terminal 71a Base end 73 Elastic contact piece 74 Elastic locking piece 81 Initial insertion hole 83 Rotating guide groove 83a Edge 85 Locking space O1, O2 center axis

Claims (3)

A first housing holding a plurality of first tab terminals projecting in the direction of the central axis around the central axis;
After the phase is matched with the initial fitting position on the central axis of the first housing and fitted to the first housing, the phase is relatively rotated about the central axis by a predetermined angle to be connected to the first housing. A second housing;
A plurality of mating terminal receiving spaces formed in the second housing to allow displacement of the first tab terminals with the relative rotation;
The second tab terminal held by the second housing at the end of the mating terminal receiving space so that the first tab terminal comes into surface contact with the first tab terminal when the relative rotation is completed. When,
A low insertion force connector characterized by comprising:   2. The low contact according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first tab terminal and the second tab terminal is provided with an elastic contact piece that elastically contacts a surface of a mating tab terminal that is in surface contact. Insertion force connector. One of the first housing and the second housing, a plurality of fitting protrusions projecting at a plurality of locations around the central axis of the one housing, and the other housing so that the plurality of fitting protrusions are fitted. A plurality of insertion holes formed in the housing,
Except when the first housing and the second housing are opposed to each other in the state where the initial fitting positions are aligned, the housings cannot be fitted to each other due to misalignment of the fitting protrusions and the fitting holes. The low insertion force connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an arrangement pitch of the fitting protrusions and the fitting holes is set.

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