JP6064194B2 - Connector device for easy confirmation of connector mating condition - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector device that allows easy confirmation of the fitting state of a connector.

  Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-184528 discloses an example of a conventional connector device. In this conventional apparatus, in order to check the fitting state between the fork-like terminal provided on one connector and the conductor provided on the other flat cable, only when they are securely fitted, A plurality of parallel visual lines displayed in a visible manner on the other connector and a plurality of parallel visual lines displayed in a visible manner on the other flat cable are arranged in a line on a straight line. Therefore, the fitting state can be easily grasped by looking at the state of the visual line.

JP 2002-184528 A

However, in the conventional device, it is necessary to provide a visual line that is not required for a normal connector in order to grasp the fitting state. As a result, the manufacturing cost is greatly increased and the production yield is reduced. Can cause problems.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems in the prior art, and can easily confirm the fitted state without using a special part (member) or the like for confirming the fitted state. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector device that does not cause a significant increase in manufacturing cost.

In this invention, it is a connector apparatus which has the 1st connector and 2nd connector which can be mutually fitted, Comprising: The said 1st connector has the 1st housing which has a fitting recessed part in the fitting side with the said 2nd connector, The second housing has a plurality of first terminals arranged in the fitting recess at a predetermined pitch, and the second connector has a fitting protrusion on the fitting side with the first connector. And a plurality of second terminals arranged on the fitting convex portion at a predetermined pitch, and when the first connector and the second connector are fitted, the fitting convex portion is the fitting. The plurality of first terminals and the plurality of second terminals are correspondingly connected to each other by being fitted in a mating recess, and are arranged inside the second housing on the outer surface of the fitting projection. Predetermined at least a part of the plurality of second terminals that are aligned along the fitting direction. A plurality of window portions are provided to be exposed over the length of the plurality of window portions, and the plurality of window portions are not visible from the outside when the fitting convex portions are fitted into the fitting concave portions. The length along the fitting direction of a part of the plurality of window portions is set longer than that of the remaining window portions.
In this configuration, at least a part of the plurality of second terminals is provided in a predetermined length along the fitting direction on the outer surface of the fitting convex portion that cannot be visually recognized from the outside when the first connector and the second connector are fitted. Since a plurality of window portions to be exposed are provided, the exposed state of the plurality of window portions is visually recognized, so that the fitting state of the first connector and the second connector, for example, half-fitting It is possible to easily check the mating state and the oblique fitting state.
The plurality of window portions may expose at least a part of the plurality of second terminals over a predetermined length along the fitting direction.

In the connector device, the fitting convex portion is formed as a plate-like body, and on one outer surface of the plate-like body, in the fitting direction of some of the plurality of window portions. The length along may be set longer than that of the remaining window portions. In addition, on the other outer surface of the plate-like body, all the lengths of the plurality of window portions along the fitting direction may be the same length.
A difference is provided in the length of the window only on one outer surface of the plate-like body, and such a window is not provided on the other outer surface, or even if such a window is provided, they are of the same length. By making the window portion change, it is possible to more easily check the fitting state including the upper and lower sides of the plate-like body.

The said connector apparatus WHEREIN: The said some window part may be provided in the both ends vicinity of the arrangement | sequence of these 2nd terminal. Further, the part of the window portions may be provided symmetrically in the arrangement direction of the plurality of second terminals.
By adopting such a unified shape, confirmation of the fitted state is further facilitated.
The first connector may be a board connector that is used while being fixed to a board, and the second connector may be a cable connector that is used while being fixed to one end of a cable.

  According to the present invention, the fitting state can be easily confirmed without using a special part (member) or the like for confirming the fitting state, and therefore, the manufacturing cost is not significantly increased. A connector device is provided.

It is a perspective view which shows the state before fitting of a board | substrate connector and a cable connector. It is a side view of FIG. It is a top view of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3. It is a top view which shows the state after the fitting of a board | substrate connector and a cable connector. It is a partial partial enlarged view of the upper side of a cable housing. It is a partial partial enlarged view of the lower side of a cable housing. It is the sectional view on the AA line and BB line of FIG. It is a figure which shows a half fitting state. It is a figure which shows a diagonal fitting state.

  Hereinafter, a connector device 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The connector device 1 of the present invention comprises a set of a board connector (first connector) and a cable connector (second connector) that can be fitted to each other. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted together, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a line AA in FIG. Sectional drawing and FIG. 5 are the top views which showed the state after the fitting of the board | substrate connector 20 and the cable connector 50 by the method similar to FIG.

  The board connector 20 is used while being fixed to the board 13. It mainly comprises a substrate housing 21, a plurality of substrate terminals 30 and a reinforcing metal fitting 12 arranged inside the substrate housing 21.

  The substrate housing 21 is fixed to the substrate 13 through the reinforcing bracket 12 and the substrate terminal 30. On the side where the cable connector 50 is fitted, a fitting recess 22 is provided along the longitudinal direction of the board-side connector 20 (the arrow “A” direction in the figure).

  In the fitting recess 22, a plurality of board terminals 30 having the same shape are arranged in a substantially line at a predetermined pitch along the longitudinal direction “A”. As shown well in FIG. 4, each board terminal 30 has an upper contact portion 34 and a lower contact portion 36, and has a substantially U shape in side view by being connected at the central portion 35. The upper contact portion 34 and the lower contact portion 36 form an insertion space 31 between which predetermined portions (the upper contact surface 74 and the bottom contact surface 76) of the cable terminal 70 of the cable connector 50 are inserted. When the cable terminal 70 is inserted, the upper contact portion 34 can move upward using the movable space 23 provided in the inner upper wall of the substrate housing 21. On the other hand, the lower contact portion 36 is always fixed to the substrate housing 21. By making the upper contact portion 34 movable, the insertion of the cable terminal 70 is allowed, and at the same time, the contact pressure with respect to the cable terminal 70 can be increased. Further, the upper contact portion 34 urges the cable terminal 70 toward the lower contact portion 36, whereby the pressure applied to the substrate housing 21 via the lower contact portion 36 can be supported by the substrate 13. Even when the cable 11 is pulled upward, the fitting state of the cable connector 50 can be maintained. A mounting portion 32 for the substrate 13 is provided at one end on the back side of the lower contact portion 36. By soldering the mounting portion 32 to a predetermined portion of the substrate 13, the substrate terminal 30 can be fixed to the substrate 13 and the substrate terminal 30 can be electrically connected to the predetermined portion of the substrate 13.

  The cable connector 50 is used by being fixed to one end of the cable 11. It mainly includes a cable housing 51 and a plurality of cable terminals 70 arranged inside the cable housing 51.

  The cable housing 51 includes a main body portion 56 and a fitting convex portion 52 provided in front of the main body portion 56, that is, on the fitting side. The main body portion 56 is formed as a substantially box body, and the fitting convex portion 52 is formed as a plate-like body that is thinner than the main body portion 56. The entire cable housing 51 has a substantially convex shape in side view.

  A fitting convex portion 52 is provided in front of the main body portion 56. The fitting convex portion 52 fits into the fitting concave portion 22 of the board connector 20 when the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted. On the other hand, on the rear side of the main body portion 56, an insertion port 61 that allows the cable terminal 70 and the cable 11 that is crimped to the cable terminal 70 to access the holding space inside the cable housing 51 is provided. The cable terminal 70 and the like are inserted and installed in the cable housing 51 through the insertion ports 61 toward the fitting convex portion 52. The cable terminal 70 is installed at a predetermined position inside the cable housing 51 by the lance 53.

A plurality of cable terminals 70 having the same shape are arranged in the fitting convex portion 52 in a substantially line at a predetermined pitch along the longitudinal direction “A”. Each cable terminal 70 has an upper contact surface 74 and a bottom contact surface 76 that are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction. Between the upper contact surface 74 and the bottom contact surface 76, the core portion of the cable 11 and the like can also be accommodated.
The upper contact surface 74 and the bottom contact surface 76 are exposed from the cable housing 51 through the plurality of windows 57 and 67 of the fitting convex portion 52, respectively. When the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted, the board terminals 30 of the board connector 20 can be contacted through the windows 57 and 67. At this time, the upper contact surface 74 and the bottom contact surface 76 are sandwiched between the upper contact portion 34 and the lower contact portion 36 of the substrate terminal 30 with a predetermined contact pressure.

  The window portions 57 and 67 provided in the fitting convex portion 52 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the upper side of the cable housing 51, FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of the lower side thereof, FIG. 8A is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. (B) of FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. Unlike FIGS. 6 and 8, FIG. 7 shows a state where the cable 11 and the cable terminal 70 are installed.

  Window portions 57 (57A, 57B) are formed on the upper outer surface 63 of the fitting convex portion 52. The window portion 57 is a portion obtained by removing at least a part of the upper outer surface 63 over a predetermined length along the fitting direction (the arrow “A” direction in the drawing). By removing a part of the fitting convex portion 52, the upper contact surface 74 (see FIG. 4) of the cable terminal 70 disposed inside the cable housing 51 is exposed. When the cable housing 51 is, for example, black and the cable terminal 70 is, for example, a metal color, the cable terminal 70 can be clearly recognized through these window portions 57. Of course, other color combinations may be used, but the colors of the cable housing 51 and the cable terminal 70 are preferably different. In addition, in the window part 57 of these upper side outer surfaces 63, the length along the fitting direction of some window parts 57B provided in the fitting convex part 52 is set longer than that of the remaining window parts 57A. I want you to pay attention to this point. Thus, by providing a change in the length of the window portion, it is possible to easily check the fitting state including the upper and lower sides of the plate-like body.

  A window portion 67 is also formed on the lower outer surface 64 of the fitting convex portion 52. The window portion 67 is a portion obtained by removing at least a part of the lower outer surface 64 over a predetermined length along the fitting direction (the arrow “A” direction in the drawing). By removing a part of the fitting convex part 52, the bottom part contact surface 76 (refer FIG. 4) of the cable terminal 70 arrange | positioned inside the cable housing 51 is exposed. Similarly to the upper outer surface 63, when the cable housing 51 is black, for example, and the cable terminal 70 is, for example, a metal color, the cable terminal 70 can be clearly recognized through these window portions 67. Of course, other color combinations may be used, but the colors of the cable housing 51 and the cable terminal 70 are preferably different. As shown well in FIG. 7, in the window portions 67 of these lower outer surfaces 64, the lengths of the plurality of window portions 67 along the fitting direction “A” are all the same length. Thus, the upper and lower sides of the plate-like body can be easily grasped by giving changes (differences) in the shape and pattern between the window portion 57 and the window portion 67 between the upper outer surface 63 and the lower outer surface 64. You can also The connector device to which the present invention is applied depends on the number of cores of the terminals (30, 70). For example, in this embodiment, the connector has a small size of 1 cm or less in the longitudinal direction at most. Therefore, it may not be easy to distinguish up and down for an unfamiliar user, but according to the above configuration of the present invention, it is possible to easily distinguish up and down. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lower outer surface 64 also has a length along the fitting direction of a part of the window portions set longer than that of the remaining window portions, similarly to the upper outer surface 63. Also good.

  When the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted together, the fitting convex part 52 of the cable connector 50 is fitted into the fitting concave part 22 of the board connector 20. As a result, the board terminal 30 of the board connector 20 and the cable terminal 70 of the cable connector 50 are correspondingly connected through the plurality of windows 57 and 67. At the time of fitting, the abutting portion 25 of the board connector 20 and the abutting portion 55 of the cable connector 50 can abut, so that the fitting convex portion 52 is excessively inserted into the fitting concave portion 22. Absent.

  The fitting state of the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 can be locked using a lock mechanism. In order to perform the locking, as shown in FIG. 4, lock protrusions 29 projecting upward are provided corresponding to the positions of the inner surfaces of both side walls of the substrate housing 21, and as shown in FIG. In addition, lock protrusions 59 projecting downward are provided corresponding to the outer surface positions of both side walls of the cable connector 50. When the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted, the lock projection 59 of the cable connector 50 gets over the lock projection 29 of the board connector 20, and the lock projection 29 fits into the lock recess 60 of the cable connector 50. In this way, the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 can be locked to each other.

  Finally, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 in addition to FIGS. 3 and 5, the operation of the provision of the windows 57 and 67 will be described. The window portions 57 and 67 are originally necessary for the corresponding connection between the board terminal 30 of the board connector 20 and the cable terminal 70 of the cable connector 50. It is not intended to be provided separately from other parts (members). The only work different from normal is to slightly adjust the dimensions of the mold in order to adjust the size of the windows 57 and 67. Therefore, by adopting the configuration of the present invention, the manufacturing cost is not significantly increased and the production yield is not significantly reduced.

  As apparent from FIG. 5, in this embodiment, when the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted, the fitting convex part 52 of the cable connector 50 is accommodated in the fitting concave part 22 of the board connector 20. The cable terminal 70 is not visually recognized through the window portions 57 and 67 provided on the upper outer surface 63 and the lower outer surface 64 of the fitting convex portion 52.

  On the other hand, when in the half-fitted state shown in FIG. 9 or when in the obliquely-fitted state shown in FIG. 10, the upper contact surface 74 and the bottom contact surface 76 of the cable terminal 70 are provided through the window portions 57 and 67. Thus, by visually observing this visual recognition state, it is possible to easily confirm the half-fitted state and the diagonally-fitted state of the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50.

  Further, as in the illustrated embodiment, for example, when the length along the fitting direction of a part of the window portions 57B provided in the fitting convex portion 52 is longer than that of the remaining window portions 57A, further speaking Some window portions 57B are set to such a length that they can reach the main body portion 56, but the remaining window portions 57A are set to such a short length that they do not reach the main body portion 56. 9, in the half-fitted state shown in FIG. 9, the degree of fitting can be confirmed by the degree of exposure of the window portion. In the oblique fitting state shown in FIG. 10, the window portion 57 </ b> B- 1 provided on the side closer to the end of the cable connector 50 among the partial window portions 57 </ b> B is closer to the center of the cable connector 50. Since it is visually recognized in a longer state than the provided window portion 57B-2, the oblique fitting state can be easily grasped.

  The window 57B is preferably provided near both ends of the cable terminal 70 array. Thereby, even if it inclines to which side, a diagonal fitting state can be confirmed. Moreover, it is preferable that the window part 57B is provided symmetrically in the arrangement direction of the plurality of second terminals 70. By adopting such a unified shape, confirmation of the fitted state is further facilitated.

Obviously, in order to achieve the object of the present application, when the board connector 20 and the cable connector 50 are fitted, the windows 57 and 67 provided on the upper outer surface 63 and the lower outer surface 64 of the fitting convex portion 52 are visually recognized. It is sufficient if it becomes impossible, and it is not always necessary that all the fitting convex portions 52 be accommodated in the fitting concave portion 22. For example, unlike the present embodiment, the window portions 57 and 67 may be provided only in the vicinity of the front end of the fitting convex portion 52, and portions other than the vicinity of the front end of the fitting convex portion 52 may not be accommodated in the fitting concave portion 22.
Further, although not particularly illustrated, the positions of the window portion 57 provided on the upper outer surface 63 of the fitting convex portion 52 and the window portion 67 provided on the lower outer surface 64 are arranged so as to be shifted from each other. May be.

  When the connector is fitted, it can be widely applied to a connector device in which the fitting convex portion is fitted into the fitting concave portion and the fitting convex portion is not visible from the outside.

1 Connector device 11 Cable 20 Board connector (first connector)
21 Substrate housing (first housing)
22 Fitting recess 30 Board terminal (first terminal)
50 Cable connector (second connector)
51 Cable housing (second housing)
52 fitting convex part 56 main-body part 57 window part 67 window part 70 cable terminal (2nd terminal)

Claims (7)

A connector device having a first connector and a second connector that can be fitted together,
The first connector has a first housing having a fitting recess on the fitting side with the second connector, and a plurality of first terminals arranged in the fitting recess at a predetermined pitch,
The second connector includes a second housing having a fitting convex portion on a fitting side with the first connector, and a plurality of second terminals arranged on the fitting convex portion at a predetermined pitch. And
When the first connector and the second connector are fitted, the fitting convex portion is fitted into the fitting concave portion, and the plurality of first terminals and the plurality of second terminals are correspondingly connected. And
A plurality of window portions that expose at least a part of the plurality of second terminals arranged inside the second housing are provided on an outer surface of the fitting convex portion, and the plurality of window portions are The fitting convex portion is configured to be invisible from the outside when fitted into the fitting concave portion, and the length along the fitting direction of some of the plurality of window portions is set to be long. A connector device characterized by being longer than that of the remaining window portion.   The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of window portions expose at least a part of the plurality of second terminals over a predetermined length along the fitting direction.   The fitting convex part is formed as a plate-like body, and on one outer surface of the plate-like body, a length along the fitting direction of a part of the plurality of window parts, The connector device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connector device is longer than that of the remaining window portion.   The connector device according to claim 3, wherein all the lengths of the plurality of window portions along the fitting direction are the same length on the other outer surface of the plate-like body.   5. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the partial window is provided near both ends of the array of the plurality of second terminals.   The connector device according to claim 5, wherein the partial window portions are provided symmetrically in the arrangement direction of the plurality of second terminals.   The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the first connector is a board connector that is used while being fixed to a board, and the second connector is a cable connector that is used while being fixed to one end of a cable. .

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