JP3327166B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector to which a retainer is attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A connector is constructed by assembling terminal fittings into cavities arranged side by side in a connector housing.
Generally, a lance is cut and raised in this terminal fitting, and when the terminal fitting is assembled in the cavity,
The terminal fitting is primarily locked by engaging with a locking projection projecting into the cavity. In addition, a retainer for secondary locking the terminal fittings that have been primarily locked can be mounted on the connector housing.

[0003]

By the way, the retainer is usually in a temporary locking position before the terminal fitting is assembled, and after the terminal fitting is assembled, the retainer is pushed into the final locking position to thereby fix the terminal fitting. Secondary locking is possible. However, it cannot be said that the retainer is not forgotten to be pushed into the final locking position in the assembling stage. In such a case, if the connectors are connected,
Since the retainer is in an incomplete state, it may cause poor contact. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can prevent a male and female connector from being fitted in a state where a retainer is incompletely mounted.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a connector according to the present invention has a hood for accommodating a mating connector, and is mounted on the connector and accommodated in the connector. A retainer for locking the terminal fitting, wherein a retainer pushing member is rotatably supported on the outer surface of the connector housing, and one end of the connector holding the rotating shaft of the retainer pushing member. A protrusion is formed on the side of the retainer so as to protrude into the hood. When the mating connector is fitted into the hood, the protrusion is pushed up in accordance with the fitting operation. While one end of the member is rotatable in a direction away from the housing,
A pressing portion is extended so that the other end side of the retainer pushing member can be located outside a mounting portion of the retainer,
The pressing portion rotates in a direction approaching to the connector housing in conjunction with the rotation of the one end side in the separating direction, thereby pressing the retainer and pressing the retainer into a position for locking the terminal fitting. It is possible, but the terminal metal
When the tool is in the half-inserted state, the terminal fitting and the
In the direction of pushing up the protruding portion due to interference with the
By restricting the rotation of the retainer pushing member, connector
It is characterized in that mutual fitting is impossible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the connector according to the first aspect, the projecting portion engages with the mating connector when the mating connector is housed in the hood portion, thereby connecting the mating connector. It is characterized in that it is held in a fitted state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the connector according to the first or second aspect, the retainer is held at a temporary locking position, and the retainer is fully locked from the temporary locking position to the retainer mounting portion of the connector housing. A guide surface for guiding to the position is formed, and when the retainer is guided by the guide surface, the terminal fitting in a half-inserted state is pushed into a proper position by the retainer.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the mating connector is housed in the hood, the mating connector and the projecting portion are engaged with each other, and one end of the retainer pushing member is separated from the connector housing. To rotate. Then, the other end of the retainer pushing member rotates in a direction approaching the connector housing. At this time, if the retainer is not pushed into the position where the terminal fitting is locked, the retainer is pressed by the pressing portion and pushed into the position where the terminal fitting is locked. Therefore, even if the user has forgotten to press the retainer, the retainer is pushed to the position where the terminal fitting is locked by fitting with the mating connector, and the connectors are fitted together in an incompletely mounted state of the retainer. Can be avoided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the mating connector is accommodated in the hood, the projecting portion engages with the mating connector and holds the mating state. That is, since the projecting portion functions as a lock portion for the mating connector, it is not necessary to separately provide a lock portion, and the configuration can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the retainer is pressed by the pressing portion, the retainer is pushed from the temporarily locked position to the fully locked position while being guided by the guide surface. At this time, if the terminal fitting is in the half-inserted state, the terminal fitting is pushed into the proper position by the retainer as the retainer is guided from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Therefore, even when the terminal fitting is in the half-inserted state, the terminal fitting can be pushed into the proper position together with the retainer by fitting with the mating connector.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

-1st Embodiment-Hereinafter, one Embodiment which actualized the connector of this invention is described with reference to FIGS. The connector of the present embodiment is a male connector M, which can be fitted with a female connector F. First, the female connector F will be described, and then the male connector M will be described.

<Female Connector> A female connector F is shown in FIG.
The connector housing 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in the middle and left sides, and a female terminal fitting 20 shown in FIG. In the connector housing 10,
Three cavities 11 are juxtaposed in the lateral direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3), and are provided therethrough through terminal mounting holes 11A formed on the rear surface (the left side surface in FIG. 3). The female terminal fitting 20 is assembled. A terminal insertion opening 11B is formed on the front surface (the right side in FIG. 3) of each cavity 11, and when male and female connectors F and M are fitted, a male terminal fitting 40 described later is connected to the terminal insertion opening 11B. Is connected to the female terminal fitting 20. In addition, each cavity 11
A retaining protrusion 12 is formed inside the female terminal fitting 2.
The female terminal fitting 20 is engaged with the lance 23 formed at
Is locked (primary lock).

A retainer mounting portion 10A is formed on the upper surface of the connector housing 10, and the retainer 1
3 can be mounted. The retainer 13 is the connector housing 1 before the female terminal fitting 20 is assembled.
When the female terminal fitting 20 is assembled into the cavity 11 and then pushed downward, the lower end of the female terminal fitting 20 is engaged with the female terminal fitting 20. Then, this is secondarily locked. The left side surface (the front surface in FIG. 1) of the connector housing 10 has a substantially concave central portion, thereby forming an engaging concave portion 14. Further, holding projections 15 are formed at symmetrical positions on both left and right side surfaces of the connector housing 10.

On the lower surface of the connector housing 10, a lock arm 16 is formed in a cantilever shape, and on the lower surface of the lock arm 16, a locking projection 16A is formed substantially at the center in the length direction. Further, at the rear end of the lower surface of the connector housing 10, an inversion restricting portion 17 for restricting the movement of the lock arm 16 in the direction opposite to the bending direction is formed.

The female terminal fitting 20 comprises a barrel portion 21 to which the terminal of the electric wire C is connected, and a contact portion 22 which contacts the male terminal fitting 40. The barrel portion 21 is formed at the rear end of the female terminal fitting 20 and is not denoted by a reference numeral.
And a pair of wire barrel pieces for caulking a core wire portion protruding in a state of being stripped from the covered terminal. The contact portion 22 includes a pair of elastic contact pieces, which are not opposed to each other but are provided with reference numerals, and a protective cylinder that covers the elastic contact pieces, and the male terminal fitting 40 is press-fitted between the elastic contact pieces. It has become so. A lance 23 that engages with the retaining projection 12 to prevent the female terminal fitting 20 from coming off is formed in the protective cylinder by cutting and raising.

<Male Connector> The male connector M is shown in FIG.
As shown in the middle, right and FIG. 2, the connector housing 30 is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped connector housing 30, a cover 50 corresponding to the retainer pushing member of the present invention, and the male terminal fitting 40 shown in FIG. A front portion of the connector housing 30 is a hood portion 31 for housing the female connector F. The inside thereof is a housing housing chamber 31A for housing the female connector housing 10 and an arm housing chamber 3 for housing the lock arm 16.
1B. The housing accommodation room 31A is
The arm accommodating chamber 31B is formed at an upper portion in the hood portion 31 and is formed below the housing accommodating chamber 31A corresponding to the position of the lock arm 16 of the female connector F. Opening edges of the left and right side walls of the hood 31 are cut out at portions that interfere with the holding projections 15 of the female connector F, and are held in a state where the female connector F is housed in the hood 31. The protrusion 15 is projected outward through the cutout 32.

Behind the housing accommodating chamber 31A, three cavities 33 are provided side by side (in FIG. 3, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3), and there are rear surfaces (right side in FIG. 3). The male terminal fitting 40 is assembled in a state where the tip end protrudes into the housing accommodating chamber 31A through the terminal assembling opening 33A. A retaining projection 34 is formed in each cavity 33 and engages with a lance 43 formed on the male terminal fitting 40 to prevent (primary locking) the male terminal fitting 40 from coming off.

At the rear of the upper surface of the connector housing 30,
A retainer mounting portion 35 is formed, and a retainer 36 can be mounted thereon. The retainer mounting part 35 is
The connector housing 30 is cut out in a strip shape between the left and right ends of the upper surface of the connector housing 30 and communicates with the cavities 33. Before the male terminal fitting 40 is assembled, the retainer 36 is held at a position (temporary locking position) that slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the connector housing 30, and the male terminal fitting 40 is assembled in the cavity 33. Then, when it is pushed downward, its lower end protrudes into the cavity 33 (the position where this lower end protrudes into the cavity 33 is the final locking position) and engages with the rear edge of the protective cylinder in the male terminal fitting 40. The male terminal fitting 40 is secondarily locked.

An engagement receiving portion 37 is formed at the open end of the bottom surface of the arm storage chamber 31B so as to protrude therefrom. When the female connector F is completely fitted into the hood portion 31, the engagement of the lock arm 16 is established. The female and male connectors F and M are held in a fitted state by engaging with the stop projection 16A. Further, a short terminal 60 for fitting detection described below is attached to the back of the arm storage chamber 31B.

The short terminal 60 is formed by being folded in a U-shape, and is assembled with the folded portion disposed on the back side. The upper end of the short terminal 60 is bifurcated into the left and right sides (in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3), and each of the branch pieces 60A is curved in a mountain shape. Then, in the assembled state, the two branch pieces 60A are inserted into the male terminal fittings 40 protruding into the housing accommodating chamber 31A.
Of the two male terminal fittings 40 located on the right side in front view
Are in contact with the tip of each. Thereby, this 2
The two male terminal fittings 40 are such that the female connector F is
1 is always in a conductive state before fitting into the hood portion 3.
1, the female connector F is completely fitted into the connector housing 10 of the female connector F.
Is pushed down, and the two male terminal fittings 40 become non-conductive.

The male terminal fitting 40 includes a barrel 41 to which the terminal of the electric wire C is connected, and a contact pin 42 that contacts the female terminal fitting 20. The barrel portion 41 is formed at the rear end of the male terminal fitting 40, and is provided with a pair of insulation barrel pieces, which are not denoted by a reference numeral but crimp the coated end of the electric wire C, and are exposed from the coated end. It consists of a pair of wire barrel pieces that caulk the protruding core part.
The contact pin 42 is fitted with a protection cylinder (not shown), and a lance 43 for preventing the male terminal fitting 40 from coming off is formed in the protection cylinder.

The cover 50 is provided so as to cover the upper surface of the connector housing 30, and the left and right side walls protrude from the left and right side surfaces of the connector housing 30.
Is rotatably supported. At the front end of the cover 50 on the ceiling surface, an engagement convex piece 51 is provided so as to protrude downward on the right side in front view, and the housing accommodating chamber 31A is formed through a slit 31C formed on the upper surface of the hood 31. It is possible to protrude inside. The front end edge of the engaging projection 51 is inclined rearward, and when the female connector housing 10 is inserted into the housing accommodating chamber 31A, the female connector housing 10 engages with the connector housing 10 and is lifted upward. ing. When the female connector housing 10 is completely accommodated in the housing accommodating chamber 31A, the engagement projection 51 is fitted into the engagement recess 14 and the female connector F is engaged.
Is held in the fitted state.

The rear end of the cover 50 extends to a position directly above the retainer 36 to form a pressing portion 52, and when the front end is lifted upward, the retainer 3 is in the temporary locking position.
6 is pushed down. On both left and right side walls of the cover 50, holding holes 53 are formed at both front end portions at symmetrical positions, so that the female connector housing 10 is completely housed in the housing housing chamber 31A, and is provided with an engagement protrusion. When the piece 51 fits into the engagement recess 14, it engages with the holding projection 15 to hold the cover 50 in the closed position.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
When the female connector F is fitted into the hood portion 31 of the male connector M, the engaging projection 51 engages with the connector housing 10 with the insertion of the female connector housing 10 into the housing accommodating chamber 31A. And lifted up.
Then, since the pressing portion 52 rotates downward, if the retainer 36 is at the temporary locking position as shown in FIG. 3, it will be pressed downward (see FIG. 4).

Further, when the female connector housing 10 is inserted deep into the housing accommodating chamber 31A,
The engaging projection 51 is further lifted upward, and the retainer 36 is further pushed down by the pressing portion 52. The lock arm 16 starts to bend when the locking projection 16A comes into contact with the locking receiving portion 37 (see FIG. 5).

When the connector housing 10 is completely accommodated in the housing accommodating chamber 31A, the retainer 36 is set to the final locking position, and engages with the male terminal fitting 40 in the primary locking state to engage it with the secondary terminal. Lock (see FIG. 6). Further, in this state, the locking projection 16A of the lock arm 16 rides over the locking receiving portion 37 to engage with each other, and the short terminal 60
60A is pushed down by the connector housing 10, and the two male terminal fittings 40 are brought into a non-conductive state.

When the front end of the cover 50 is pressed downward and the raised projection 51 is rotated downward, the engagement projection 51 engages with the female connector housing 10. The fitting projection 15 is fitted into the recess 14 (see FIG. 7), and the holding projection 15 is fitted into the holding hole 53 of the cover 50 via the cutout 32. Thereby, the female connector F is locked in the fitted state. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the male and female connectors F and M are held in a fitted state by the lock arm 16 and the engaging projections 51 of the cover 50 and the like.

When the male terminal fitting 40 is in the half-inserted state, the lower end of the retainer 36 comes into contact with the protective cylinder of the male terminal fitting 40 and the retainer 36 is pushed down from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Can not. That is, since the front end of the cover 50 cannot be lifted, the female connector F cannot be inserted into the hood 31 of the male connector M in this state. Therefore, if the male terminal fitting 40 is in the half-inserted state, the male and female connectors F and M cannot be fitted. When the female and male connectors F and M are fitted together with the retainer 13 of the female connector F in the provisionally locked position, the retainer 13 of the female connector F in the provisionally locked position becomes a hood portion of the male connector M. During the insertion into the hood 31, the hood 31 comes into contact with the upper edge of the opening of the hood 31 to prevent the female connector F from being inserted into the hood 31 any more. Therefore, also in this case, the male and female connectors F and M cannot be fitted.

In the above-described configuration, the present embodiment has the following advantages. Since the pressing portion 52 of the cover 50 can be rotated downward by fitting with the female connector F, even if the forcibly pushing the retainer 36 into the final locking position is forgotten in the assembling stage. This can be pushed into the final locking position, and it is possible to prevent the male and female connectors F and M from being fitted together when the retainer 36 is in an incompletely mounted state.

When the male terminal fitting 40 is partially inserted, the retainer 36 cannot be pushed down.
The female connector F cannot be inserted into the hood portion 31 of the male connector M because the front end of the male connector M cannot be lifted. , M can be prevented from being fitted.

When the female connector F is accommodated in the hood portion 31, the engaging projection 51 engages with the engaging concave portion 14 of the female connector F to lock the female connector F. Thus, both the male and female connectors F and M can be securely held together with the lock arm 16. Although the lock arm 16 is provided in the present embodiment, the engagement between the engagement convex piece portion 51 and the engagement concave portion 14 is sufficient if only the male and female connectors F and M are held in the fitted state. Therefore, in this case, it is not necessary to provide the lock arm 16, and the configuration can be simplified.

Second Embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The retainer of the first embodiment is configured to be pushed down straight down, but the retainer of the present embodiment is configured to be pushed down obliquely. Other configurations are
Since the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the retainer mounting portion 71
Is formed on the upper surface of the connector housing 30 at the rear portion between the left and right ends in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but the rear edge of the retainer mounting portion 71 is cut off diagonally to form the guide surface 71A. Has formed. Also, retainer 7
2, the lower surface thereof is notched obliquely along the guide surface 71A, so that the retainer 72 is pushed down along the guide surface 71A.

In the temporary locking position, the retainer 72 is located behind the retainer mounting portion 71. When the front end of the cover 50 is lifted by fitting with the female connector F, the retainer 72 is moved downward by the pressing portion 52. Pressed. As a result, the retainer 72 is pushed forward while being guided by the guide surface 71A (see FIG. 9), and engages with the male terminal fitting 40 in the primary locking state to secondarily lock it. At this time, if the male terminal fitting 40 is in a half-inserted state,
As the retainer 72 is pushed down forward, the male terminal fitting 40 in the half-inserted state also becomes the retainer 72.
Is pushed to the proper position by the lower end.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent the male and female connectors F and M from being fitted together when the retainer 72 is in an incompletely mounted state.
If the male terminal fitting 40 is in the half-inserted state, it is possible to push the male terminal fitting 40 together with the retainer 72 into a regular position.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be modified as follows, for example, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the short terminal 60 is attached to the male connector M. However, the short terminal 60 may not be provided.

(2) In the above embodiment, the engaging projection 5
Reference numeral 1 is designed to engage the engaging recess 14 of the female connector F to lock the male and female connectors F and M in a fitted state. However, the reference numeral 1 may simply be used to lift the front end of the cover. Good. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the entire first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the male connector of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state before fitting of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view showing the same embodiment during fitting.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing the same embodiment in the middle of fitting.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a fitted state of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing the engagement projection in the fitted state of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing a state before fitting according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view showing the same embodiment in the middle of fitting.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Connector housing 31 ... Hood part 36 ... Retainer 40 ... Male terminal fitting (terminal fitting) 50 ... Cover (retainer pushing member) 51 ... Engagement convex piece part (projection part) 52 ... Pressing part 71 ... Retainer mounting part 71A … Guide surface 72… Retainer M… Male connector F… Female connector

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector comprising: a hood portion for accommodating a mating connector; and a retainer attached to the connector for locking a terminal fitting housed in the connector. A retainer pushing member is rotatably supported on the outer surface of the housing, and a projecting portion projecting into the hood portion is formed on one end side with the rotating shaft of the retainer pushing member interposed therebetween, and into the hood portion. When the mating connector is fitted, by pushing up the protruding portion in accordance with the fitting operation, one end of the retainer pushing member is rotatable in a direction away from the housing. A pressing portion is extended so that the other end of the pushing member can be located outside the mounting portion of the retainer, and the pressing portion is separated from the one end. By rotating the direction of approaching to the connector housing in conjunction with the rotation of the direction and to press the retainer has a pushable into a position for locking the terminal fitting, before
When the terminal fitting is in the half-inserted state,
Direction in which the retainer interferes and pushes up the protrusion
By restricting the rotation of the retainer pushing member to the
A connector characterized in that mating between the connectors is disabled . 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the projecting portion engages with the mating connector when the mating connector is received in the hood portion and holds the mating connector in a fitted state. A connector characterized in that: 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the retainer is held in a temporary locking position, and the retainer is mounted on a retainer mounting portion of the connector housing from the temporary locking position to a full locking position. A connector, wherein a guide surface for guiding is formed, and when the retainer is guided by the guide surface, the terminal fitting in a half-inserted state is pushed into a proper position by the retainer.