JP5934584B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector in which a terminal fitting inserted into a housing is prevented from coming off by a terminal locking lance provided in the housing.

FIG. 8 shows a connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.
The connector 100 includes a terminal fitting 110 and a housing 120 that accommodates and holds the terminal fitting 110.

  The terminal fitting 110 is a female terminal fitting. The fitting connecting portion 111 has a rectangular tube structure with which the mating male terminal fitting is fitted, the covering crimping piece 112 for fixing the covering portion of the electric wire, and the conductor of the electric wire. A conductor caulking piece 113 for caulking. Then, the rear end of the fitting connecting portion 111 that is the outer peripheral portion of the terminal fitting 110 is recessed in a direction (arrow Y direction in FIG. 8) perpendicular to the insertion direction into the housing 120 (arrow X direction in FIG. 8). A recess 114 is provided.

  The housing 120 includes a terminal receiving hole 121 into which the terminal fitting 110 is inserted, and a terminal locking lance 122.

  The terminal locking lance 122 protrudes from the elastic piece 122a extending along the terminal receiving hole 121 at a position facing the terminal receiving hole 121, and the tip of the elastic piece 122a so as to protrude into the terminal receiving hole 121. And a locking projection 122b.

  In the case of the connector 100 of Patent Document 1, when the insertion length of the terminal fitting 110 into the terminal receiving hole 121 reaches a specified value, the engaging protrusion 122b engages with the recess 114, so that the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 110 is Is restricted from moving in the opposite direction (ie, slipping out).

JP 2010-140806 A

  However, in the case of the connector 100 described above, generally, in order to facilitate the insertion of the terminal fitting 110 into the terminal receiving hole 121, the fitting between the terminal receiving hole 121 and the terminal fitting 110 is a clearance fit. The inner dimension of the terminal accommodating hole 121 is set larger than the outer dimension of the terminal fitting 110. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, a gap s remains between the elastic piece 122a and the outer peripheral portion of the fitting connection portion 111. And, in the case of the connector 100 of Patent Document 1, the movement of the terminal fitting 110 in the removal direction is restricted by the terminal locking lance 122, but the means for restricting the movement of the terminal fitting 110 in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction is: It is not provided. As a result, the gap s described above is a factor that causes looseness of the terminal fitting 110.

  The looseness of the terminal fitting 110 may cause variations in the fixing position of the terminal fitting 110 and may make it difficult to fit and connect the terminal fitting 110 and the mating terminal fitting.

  As a measure for preventing the occurrence of inconvenience due to such rattling of the terminal fitting 110, the inner dimension of the terminal receiving hole 121 and the outer dimension of the terminal fitting 110 are set so that the gap s described above is minimized. It is conceivable to reduce the dimensional tolerance between them. However, even if the dimensional tolerance is reduced, the backlash cannot be completely eliminated. Further, depending on the processing error of the terminal fitting 110, the insertability of the terminal fitting 110 into the housing 120 may be lowered.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and without causing deterioration of the insertability of the terminal fitting into the housing, reliably rattling in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting inserted into the housing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector that can be prevented.

The above-described object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A terminal fitting and a housing that accommodates and holds the terminal fitting,
The terminal fitting includes a recess recessed in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction into the housing on the outer periphery.
The housing includes a terminal receiving hole into which the terminal fitting is inserted, and a terminal locking lance.
The terminal locking lance protrudes from the elastic piece extending along the terminal accommodation hole at a position facing the terminal accommodation hole, and protrudes from the end of the elastic piece so as to protrude into the terminal accommodation hole. A locking projection,
When the insertion length of the terminal fitting into the terminal receiving hole reaches a specified value, the locking projection engages with the recess, thereby restricting movement of the terminal fitting in the direction opposite to the insertion direction. A connector,
The elastic piece has one outer peripheral surface that faces the terminal receiving hole and is a plane parallel to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting,
One outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece is provided with a terminal pressing protrusion that slidably contacts the outer peripheral portion of the terminal fitting and presses the terminal fitting against the inner wall surface of the terminal receiving hole facing the terminal locking lance ,
The terminal pressing protrusion is a ridge extending to connect with the locking protrusion along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting,
The protruding height of the terminal pressing protrusion from one outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece gradually increases as it approaches the locking protrusion, and the protruding height of the terminal pressing protrusion at the connection point with the locking protrusion is The connector is smaller than the protrusion height of the locking projection from one outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece .

  According to the configuration of (1) above, the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal receiving hole of the housing is pressed against the inner wall surface of the terminal receiving hole by the terminal pressing protrusion provided on the outer surface of the terminal locking lance. Even if the fitting between the terminal receiving hole and the terminal fitting is a clearance fit, the terminal fitting does not rattle. In addition, since it is not necessary to reduce the dimensional tolerance of the gap fitting in order to suppress the looseness of the terminal fitting, the insertability of the terminal fitting is not deteriorated.

  That is, according to the configuration of (1) above, it is possible to reliably prevent rattling in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting inserted into the housing without deteriorating the insertion property of the terminal fitting into the housing. .

Furthermore, according to the configuration of ( 1 ) above, since the terminal pressing protrusion is a ridge extending along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting on one outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece facing the terminal accommodating hole, molding of the housing It is not difficult to remove the mold, and the moldability of the housing can be prevented from being lowered.

  In addition, since the terminal pressing protrusion extends over a predetermined length along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, the pressing range by the terminal pressing protrusion can be set longer, and the terminal fitting is inclined. It is possible to perform stable pressing without any problems.

  According to the connector of the present invention, the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal receiving hole of the housing is pressed against the inner wall surface of the terminal receiving hole by the terminal pressing protrusion provided on the outer surface of the terminal locking lance. Even if the fitting between the receiving hole and the terminal fitting is a clearance fit, the terminal fitting does not rattle. In addition, since it is not necessary to reduce the dimensional tolerance of the gap fitting in order to suppress the looseness of the terminal fitting, the insertability of the terminal fitting is not deteriorated.

  That is, according to the connector of the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent rattling in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting inserted into the housing without deteriorating the insertion property of the terminal fitting into the housing.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of a connector according to the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the longitudinal section of the connector of one embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the positioning state of the terminal tool in the terminal accommodation hole shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the terminal locking lance shown in FIG. 3. It is a side view of the terminal latching lance shown in FIG. It is a top view of the terminal latching lance shown in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the positioning state of a terminal metal fitting when a terminal latching lance is made into the structure without a terminal press protrusion in this embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional connector.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 6 show one embodiment of a connector according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the connector according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a positioning state of the terminal fitting in the terminal receiving hole shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the terminal locking lance shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the terminal locking lance shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the terminal locking lance shown in FIG.

  The connector 1 according to this embodiment includes a terminal fitting 10 and a resin housing 20 that accommodates and holds the terminal fitting 10.

  The terminal fitting 10 is a female terminal fitting, and as shown in FIG. 3, a fitting connection portion 11 having a rectangular tube structure with which a mating male terminal fitting is fitted, and a covering crimping piece for fixing an electric wire covering portion. 12 and a conductor crimping piece 13 for crimping the conductor of the electric wire. Then, the bottom 11a of the fitting connection portion 11 which is the outer peripheral portion of the terminal fitting 10 is recessed in a direction (arrow Y1 direction in FIG. 3) orthogonal to the insertion direction to the housing 20 (arrow X2 direction in FIG. 3). A recess 14 is provided.

  In the case of the present embodiment, the recess 14 is a space that communicates with the fitting connection portion 11 through an opening formed through the bottom portion 11 a of the fitting connection portion 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 20 includes a terminal receiving hole 21 into which the terminal fitting 10 is inserted and a terminal locking lance 22.

  The inner dimension of the terminal receiving hole 21 is set larger than the outer dimension of the terminal fitting 10 so that the fitting with the terminal fitting 10 is a clearance fit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal locking lance 22 includes an elastic piece 22a, a locking protrusion 22b, and a terminal pressing protrusion 22c.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic piece 22 a is a rod-like piece extending along the terminal accommodation hole 21 at a position facing the terminal accommodation hole 21, and the tip (left end in FIG. 3) side is the insertion of the terminal fitting 10. It functions as a leaf spring that can be elastically displaced in a direction orthogonal to the direction.

  The locking protrusion 22b is a protrusion protruding from the tip of the elastic piece 22a so as to protrude into the terminal accommodating hole 21.

  In the case of the connector 1 of the present embodiment, when the insertion length of the terminal fitting 10 into the terminal accommodating hole 21 reaches a specified value, the locking projection 22b is engaged with the recess 14 as shown in FIG. The movement in the direction opposite to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 10 is restricted.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the terminal pressing protrusion 22 c is a protrusion provided on the outer surface of the terminal locking lance 22 facing the terminal receiving hole 21. In the case of this embodiment, one outer peripheral surface 22a1 of the elastic piece 22a facing the terminal accommodating hole 21 is an outer surface of the terminal locking lance 22 on which the terminal pressing projection 22c is projected. Further, the terminal pressing protrusion 22c in the present embodiment is formed in a protruding line extending over a predetermined length L (see FIG. 6) along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 10.

  The terminal pressing protrusion 22 c of the present embodiment is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral portion of the fitting connection portion 11 inserted into the terminal receiving hole 21 and presses the terminal fitting 10 against the inner wall surface 21 a of the terminal receiving hole 21. The inner wall surface 21 a is an inner wall surface of the terminal receiving hole 21 that faces the terminal locking lance 22.

  The protrusion height H of the terminal pressing protrusion 22c shown in FIG. 5 is retracted from the terminal accommodating hole 21 by the pressing force acting on the terminal pressing protrusion 22c from the terminal fitting 10 when the terminal pressing protrusion 22c slides on the bottom of the terminal fitting 10. It is set so that the elastic displacement in the direction (arrow Y2 direction in FIG. 3) is applied to the elastic piece 22a. Further, the protrusion height H of the terminal pressing projection 22c is such that the elastic reaction force of the elastic piece 22a displaced in the direction of the arrow Y2 in FIG. 3 acts on the bottom of the terminal fitting 10 via the terminal pressing projection 22c. Is set to be pressed against the inner wall surface 21a of the terminal accommodating hole 21.

  In the connector 1 according to the embodiment described above, the terminal fitting 10 inserted into the terminal receiving hole 21 of the housing 20 has the terminal pressing provided on the outer surface of the terminal locking lance 22 as shown in FIG. Since the protrusion 22c presses the inner wall surface 21a of the terminal receiving hole 21, even if the fitting between the terminal receiving hole 21 and the terminal fitting 10 is a clearance fit, the terminal fitting 10 does not rattle.

  In addition, since it is not necessary to reduce the dimensional tolerance of the gap fitting in order to suppress the play of the terminal fitting 10, the insertability of the terminal fitting 10 is not lowered.

  That is, according to the configuration of the connector 1 of the embodiment, the play in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 10 inserted into the housing 20 is ensured without deteriorating the insertability of the terminal fitting 10 into the housing 20. Can be prevented.

  Moreover, according to the structure of the connector 1 of one Embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, the terminal press protrusion 22c is the terminal metal fitting 10 on one outer peripheral surface 22a1 of the elastic piece 22a which faced the terminal accommodation hole 21. FIG. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the mold of the housing 20 from being lowered, and it is possible to prevent the moldability of the housing 20 from being deteriorated.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal pressing protrusion 22c is extended over a predetermined length L along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 10, so that the pressing range by the terminal pressing protrusion 22c is set to be long. It is possible to perform stable pressing without inclining the terminal fitting 10.

  In addition, in order to clarify the effect of the terminal pressing protrusion 22c in the present invention, FIG. 7 shows a connector 1A as a comparative example. The connector 1A includes a housing 20A having a structure in which the terminal pressing protrusions 22c are omitted from the housing 20 shown in the embodiment. The configuration of the housing 20A in the comparative example is the same as that of the housing 20 of the embodiment except that the terminal locking lance 22 does not have the terminal pressing protrusion 22c.

Since the fitting between the terminal fitting 10 and the terminal receiving hole 21 is a clearance fit, in the case of the housing 20A of FIG. 7 that is not equipped with the terminal pressing protrusion 22c, the terminal holding lance 22 is retained by the locking protrusion 22b. A gap s due to dimensional tolerance remains between the bottom of the terminal fitting 10 and the locking projection 22b. And, due to the gap s, it is impossible to prevent the play in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 10.
Therefore, the usefulness of the terminal pressing protrusion 22c in the present invention is remarkable.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, 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.

  For example, the terminal pressing protrusions may be configured by a plurality of protrusions arranged at a predetermined pitch in the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, instead of a single protrusion extending along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting. .

  Here, the features of the embodiment of the connector according to the present invention described above are briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [2], respectively.

[1] A terminal fitting (10) and a housing (20) for accommodating and holding the terminal fitting (10),
The terminal fitting (10) includes a concave portion (14) recessed in a direction perpendicular to an insertion direction into the housing (20) on an outer peripheral portion,
The housing (20) includes a terminal receiving hole (21) into which the terminal fitting (10) is inserted, and a terminal locking lance (22),
The terminal locking lance (22) includes an elastic piece (22a) extending along the terminal accommodating hole (21) at a position facing the terminal accommodating hole (21), and an inside of the terminal accommodating hole (21). A locking projection (22b) projecting from the tip of the elastic piece (22a) so as to project to
When the insertion length of the terminal fitting (10) into the terminal receiving hole (21) reaches a specified value, the locking protrusion (22b) is engaged with the recess (14), whereby the terminal fitting ( 10) a connector (1) whose movement in the direction opposite to the insertion direction is restricted,
The outer surface of the terminal locking lance (22) facing the terminal receiving hole (21) is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral portion of the terminal metal fitting (10), so that the terminal metal fitting (10) is inserted into the terminal locking lance. A connector (1) comprising a terminal pressing protrusion (22c) for pressing on an inner wall surface (21a) of the terminal receiving hole (21) facing to (22).

[2] The terminal pressing protrusion (22c) is predetermined along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting (10) on one outer peripheral surface (22a1) of the elastic piece (22a) facing the terminal accommodating hole (21). The connector (1) according to [1], wherein the connector (1) is a ridge extending over the length of the connector.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 10 Terminal metal fitting 11 Fitting connection part 14 Recess 20 Housing 21 Terminal accommodation hole 21a Inner wall surface 22 Terminal locking lance 22a Elastic piece 22a1 Outer peripheral surface 22b Locking protrusion 22c Terminal pressing protrusion

Claims (1)

A terminal fitting and a housing for accommodating and holding the terminal fitting,
The terminal fitting includes a recess recessed in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction into the housing on the outer periphery.
The housing includes a terminal receiving hole into which the terminal fitting is inserted, and a terminal locking lance.
The terminal locking lance protrudes from the elastic piece extending along the terminal accommodation hole at a position facing the terminal accommodation hole, and protrudes from the end of the elastic piece so as to protrude into the terminal accommodation hole. A locking projection,
When the insertion length of the terminal fitting into the terminal receiving hole reaches a specified value, the locking projection engages with the recess, thereby restricting movement of the terminal fitting in the direction opposite to the insertion direction. A connector,
The elastic piece has one outer peripheral surface that faces the terminal receiving hole and is a plane parallel to the insertion direction of the terminal fitting,
One outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece is provided with a terminal pressing protrusion that slidably contacts the outer peripheral portion of the terminal fitting and presses the terminal fitting against the inner wall surface of the terminal receiving hole facing the terminal locking lance ,
The terminal pressing protrusion is a ridge extending to connect with the locking protrusion along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting,
The protruding height of the terminal pressing protrusion from one outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece gradually increases as it approaches the locking protrusion, and the protruding height of the terminal pressing protrusion at the connection point with the locking protrusion is The connector is smaller than the protrusion height of the locking projection from one outer peripheral surface of the elastic piece .

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