JPH07211392A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a lock hood from easily falling off, and prevent mutual housings from being put in a half fitting condition. CONSTITUTION:A lock hood 5 is rotatably installed on a male housing 4, and a spring member 14 is interposed between the male housing 4 and the lock hood 5, and the lock hood 5 is energized in the direction along an outside surface of the male housing 4. Thereby, since the lock hood 5 is always put in a condition of forcibly running along the male housing 4 side, the situation of running off by vibration or by striking on a surrounding member is avoided. Since the lock hood 5 can forcibly transfer both housings 3 and 4 to a complete fitting condition by an action of the spring member 14, an incomplete fitting condition can be beforehand avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a lock hood.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a type in which a fitted state of both male and female connectors is locked by a lock hood. Examples thereof include those of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-67784 and Japanese Patent Application No. 4-67785. In these devices, a lock hood is rotatably attached to a housing on the male connector side, and the lock hood is provided with a cam projection whose side edge acts as a cam. On the other hand, the housing of the female connector has a cam receiving hole for receiving the cam projection. When the two housings are fitted to each other, the cam projection contacts the housing of the female connector and is rotated so as to push up the entire lock hood, and then the fitting progresses and the cam projection is fitted into the cam receiving hole. , The lock hood rotates in the opposite direction and returns. In this way, when the housings of both connectors are completely fitted together and the lock hood is further rotated slightly to engage with the housing of the female connector, the combined state of the male and female connectors is maintained. Met.

[0003]

However, the above problems have the following problems. First, the lock hood is fixed after the housing of the female connector is fitted, and when the male connector is used alone, there is no particular holding means, and the lock hood can be freely rotated. Therefore, if vibration or external force is applied during transportation, the lock hood may come into contact with other objects to stand up, and if the rotation limit is exceeded, this may cause the lock hood to fall off. .

Secondly, as described above, the lock hood engages with the female connector side by performing a slight turning operation (locking operation) after the fitting operation of both connectors is performed. It plays the role of avoiding mutual half-fitting (incomplete fitting), but even if you forget to do the locking operation, it is difficult to detect the half-fitting because the abnormal position of the lock hood is hard to notice. Problems are pointed out.

The present invention has been developed and devised in view of the above-mentioned problems. The purpose is to prevent the lock hood from falling off, secondly to avoid a half-fitted state, and thirdly. Is to provide a connector that realizes excellent assembling workability.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the structure of the invention of claim 1 is such that the housing of one of the connectors which can be fitted to each other is in a state along the outer surface and the outer surface. A lock hood that can be rotated between the lock hood and a state in which the lock hood is raised from above is provided, and a cam projection is formed on the housing of the other connector not provided with this lock hood or the lock hood. Rotating the lock hood in a direction along the outer surface of the one connector housing to displace the other connector in the coupling direction by the cam projection, and to the lock hood or the housing of the one connector. , The lock hood is elastically deformed with the rising rotation of the lock hood. One end of the spring member biasing the direction along the outer surface of the connector housing is characterized in that the attached.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the spring member is fixed by engaging one end of the spring member with a locking portion provided on the housing of the one connector or the lock hood, and at the same time, with the locking portion. It is characterized in that a spring retainer is provided around the.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the lock hood is pressed against the housing of the connector on the side where the lock hood is attached by the spring member and is in a state along the outer surface of the housing. The lock hood is prevented from rising due to external force or the like. In addition, depending on how the spring force of the spring member is set, the lock hood pulls strongly on the mating connector so that the housings of both connectors automatically shift to a completely fitted state and remain in this state. You can also do it.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the spring member is attached to the housing by engaging one end side of the spring member with the locking portion, and is prevented from being detached by being pressed by the spring pressing portion during elastic deformation. To be done.

[0010]

The effects of the present invention are as follows. In the invention of claim 1, since the lock hood is pressed by the spring member along the outer surface of the housing,
It is possible to prevent the situation of being disengaged due to vibration or external force.
Also, if the spring force of the spring member is set appropriately, the locked state of both housings is automatically realized, so that the fitting can be detected, and the spring member holds the locked state, so a special lock No means needed.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the spring member can be attached by engaging with the locking portion, the spring member can be easily assembled.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a male connector 1 is used.
A lock hood 5 is attached to the lock hood 5, and the lock hood 5 forcibly displaces the female connector 2 to a completely fitted position and holds the male and female connectors 1 and 2 in this state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the male connector 1 has a male housing 4 formed in a two-dimensional rectangular parallelepiped shape having different sizes, and a plurality of male housings 4 are provided inside the rear side (front side in FIG. 1). A male terminal accommodating chamber 6 for accommodating a male terminal (not shown) is formed, and a hood portion 7 that can be fitted to the female housing 3 is formed in a front portion (a rear side portion in FIG. 1). The male terminal accommodating chamber 6 is formed so as to open in both front and rear directions, and is divided into a plurality of chambers in a lattice shape. Each of the chambers accommodates a male terminal whose distal end is in the form of an elongated flat plate, and is individually retained in the state of being retained, and these distal ends project into the hood portion 7 in a parallel state. The male terminals are prevented from coming off by engaging a flexible deformable lance (known one) formed in each male terminal accommodating chamber 6 with a metal part of each male terminal.

Like the male connector 1, the female connector 2 also has a female housing 3 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is open in both front and rear directions, and the inside thereof has a number of female terminals corresponding to each male terminal. The same number of female terminal accommodating chambers 8 for accommodating (not shown) are provided. These female terminals are also prevented from coming off by engaging unillustrated lances formed in the female terminal accommodating chambers 8 with the metal fittings of the female terminals. These female terminals are adapted to be fitted and electrically connected to the male terminals when the male and female housings 3 and 4 are completely fitted.

On the other hand, in the rear part of the male housing 4, a pair of support shafts 9 are integrally formed on both left and right side walls (only one side is shown in FIG. 1), and the lock hood 5 is provided.
Is rotatably supported about this point. The lock hood 5 has a downward U-shape in cross section so as to cover a part of the rear side of the male housing 4, the upper surface of the hood portion 7 and the left and right side surfaces thereof. It can be turned up and down between the open and closed positions. A plate-shaped cam projection 10 is formed on the lower surface of the central portion of the lock hood 5 so as to project. This cam protrusion 10
Has a substantially triangular shape, and slopes 10a are formed on both side edges of the substantially central portion as an apex. Correspondingly, a slit 11 through which the cam projection 10 can penetrate is formed in the rear half of the upper surface of the hood portion 7 of the male housing 4, and the front opening surface (fitting surface) in the central portion of the upper surface of the female housing 3 is formed. A cam receiving hole 12 that is aligned with the slit 11 and receives the insertion of the cam projection 10 is formed along the front-rear direction when the housings 3 and 4 are fitted to each other. Further, the range from the upper edge of the fitting surface of the female housing 3 to the cam receiving hole 12 has the same width as the cam receiving hole 12 and is recessed inward, and here, the cam receiving portion 13 is provided.
Are formed. As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the cam receiving portion 13 is formed in a mountain shape having an upward slope toward the center, and the front and rear inclined surfaces guide the cam protrusion 10 to the guide surface 13.
It is a. By this, both male and female housings 3,
The cam protrusion 10 can pass over the cam receiving portion 13 and enter the cam receiving hole 12 in the process of fitting the 4 (see FIG. 2).
~ See Figure 4).

Further, one end side of a spring member 14 made of, for example, spring steel is placed on the upper surface of the lock hood 5 and near the center of rotation so as to be locked. Hood 5 to male housing 4
It works by pressing it against the upper surface of. The spring member 14 is formed in a substantially U shape as a whole, but the upper piece, that is, the piece that is locked to the lock hood 5 is formed to be long. On the other hand, the spring member 1 is provided on the upper surface of the rear portion of the male housing 4.
4 has a locking projection 15 for mounting 4,
It is engageable with a mounting hole 16 formed at the other end of the spring member 14 in a substantially press-fitted state.

A spring retainer 17 is arranged on the upper surface of the male housing 4 so as to sandwich the locking projection 15 from the left and right. The spring retainer 17 is a pair of spring retainer pieces 17.
It is composed of a. Both spring pressing pieces 17a are formed in opposed L-shapes, and the spring member 14 is inserted from the rear side so that the mounting hole 16 can be engaged with the locking projection 15. However, the distance between the upper wall surfaces of both spring pressing pieces 17a is set to be narrower than that of the spring member 14, that is, even if the spring member 14 is deformed into a widened state as shown in FIG. The attachment end side of the spring member 14 is pressed down so that the engagement between the locking projection 15 and the spring member 14 is not disengaged.

However, the spring force of the spring member 14 pulls the female housing 3 into the hood portion 7 of the male housing 4 after the cam projection 10 has surpassed the apex of the cam receiving portion 13, so that both housings 3 and 4 are pulled. It is set so that it can automatically reach the completely fitted state (the state in which both male and female terminals are completely connected) (a weaker spring force may be set, but in this case as well The function to assist the combined operation is demonstrated.). Further, the spring force in this case is sufficient to maintain the two housings 3 and 4 in a completely fitted state. Further, as described above, the spring member 14 is attached by inserting the spring pressing pieces 17a from the rear side of the spring pressing pieces 17a from the rear side so that the engaging operation can be smoothly performed. The rear end surface is chamfered 15a.

Next, the function and effect of the first embodiment constructed as described above will be concretely described. When the male connector 1 is used alone, as shown in FIG. 2, the lock hood 5 is in a state along the upper surface of the male housing 4 by the spring force of the spring member 14. Therefore, since the shape is compact as a whole, the storage efficiency is improved. In addition, a force in the direction of raising the lock hood 5 may act due to vibration or collision with another male connector 1 during the transportation, which causes the lock hood 5 to exceed the rotation limit and to move to the male side. As described above, there is a concern that the lock hood 5 may fall off from the housing 4. However, in this example, as described above, the lock hood 5 is locked by the spring member 14.
Is urged so as to come into close contact with the upper surface of the male housing 4, the lock hood 5 does not stand up easily even when an external force as described above acts, and it is extremely difficult to disengage.

When connecting the male and female connectors 1 and 2, the female housing 3 is inserted into the hood portion 7 of the male housing 4. Then, as the female connector 2 enters,
The entire lock hood 5 is lifted in the process in which the front guide surface 13a of the cam receiving portion 13 slides in contact with the inclined surface of the cam protrusion 10 (see FIG. 3). At this time, on the free end side of the spring member 14, the lock hood 5 is lifted and elastically deformed in the expanding direction, but the spring holding pieces 17a prevent the spring hood 5 from coming off the male housing 4. In addition, in a state before the cam protrusion 10 rides over the cam receiving portion 13, the spring force of the spring member 14 functions as a repulsive force for separating the two housings 3 and 4, so that at least the operation force for coupling is repulsed. It must be strong enough to withstand.

However, when the cam protrusion 10 passes the apex of the cam receiving portion 13, the cam protrusion 10 slides on the guide surface 13a on the rear side of the cam receiving portion 13, so that the spring force of the spring member 14 is applied to the female housing. 3 so as to be pulled into the hood portion 7 of the male housing 4. As a result, the male and female housings 3 and 4 are automatically moved to a completely fitted state, and the male and female terminals are electrically connected (state in FIG. 4). That is,
In the first embodiment, since both housings 3 and 4 are automatically moved to the completely fitted state, a unique operation for finally locking (half fitting detection operation) as in the conventional case is unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the two housings 3 and 4 from being left in an imperfectly fitted state. Also, both housings 3, 4
This state is retained even after the
No special locking means is required. However, the auxiliary provision of the locking means is not hindered.

Further, in the first embodiment, since the spring member 14 is attached only by the engaging operation with the locking projection 15, the assembling work is extremely easy. Furthermore, in the case where the spring member 14 is provided separately as in this example, the spring force of the spring member 14 can be set arbitrarily, so that it automatically shifts to the locked state as in this example. Such a setting can be made, or a setting for assisting the fitting operation can be made.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the shape of the spring member 14 is changed to a shape in which the spring member 14 is gently lifted from the center to the tip, and accordingly, the locking projection 15 and the spring retainer 17 are changed.
The position of is changed to near the rear end of the male housing 4. In addition, the upper surface of the lock hood 5 near the center of rotation is a contact surface 18 that gently inclines according to the above-described lifting shape of the spring member 14. Further, in the second embodiment, the knob piece 1 is attached to the tip of the lock hood 5 in order to facilitate the operation when releasing the coupling between the housings 3 and 4.
9 is integrally formed. Therefore, when the coupling is released, the knob piece 19 is pinched and lifted against the spring member 14, and the female housing 3 is pulled out to a position where the cam projection 10 gets over the apex of the cam receiving portion 13. The spring force of the spring member 14 acts in the disengagement direction, and the two housings 3 and 4 are automatically separated.

The rest of the structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, so that the same operational effect can be exhibited.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the cam projection 10 is on the female housing 3 side and the cam receiving hole 12 is the lock hood in the first embodiment. It is arranged on each of the five sides. Correspondingly, the slit 11 of the male housing 4 is also cut from the front opening edge of the hood portion 7.

The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, so that the same function and effect can be exhibited.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but various modifications can be made. For example, the following is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. The spring member 14 may be attached by providing a projection for caulking from the male housing 4 side and fixing by caulking. In this case, the spring retainer 17 can be omitted. The spring member 14 does not necessarily have to be attached to the male housing 4 side, and the lock hood 5 side may be the attachment end and the male housing 4 side may be the free end. The spring member 14 does not necessarily have to be made of metal, but may be made of a synthetic resin material, for example. Although the spring member 14 is set on the male housing 4 side in any of the embodiments, it may be set on the female housing 3 side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an outline of a connector of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing a state before the fitting.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the mating process.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view schematically showing a state after the fitting.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the outline of the connector of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the outline of the connector of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Male connector 2 ... Female connector 3 ... Female housing 4 ... Male housing 5 ... Lock hood 10 ... Cam protrusion 13 ... Cam receiving portion 14 ... Spring member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lock hood that is rotatable between a state along an outer surface of the connector and a state of being raised from the outer surface of the housing of one of the connectors that can be fitted to each other, and the lock hood. Alternatively, the cam projection is formed on the housing of the other connector not provided with the lock hood, and the cam is rotated by rotating the lock hood in the direction along the outer surface of the one connector housing when the other connector is inserted. A protrusion is used to displace the other connector in the coupling direction. The lock hood or the housing of the one connector is elastically deformed as the lock hood rises and rotates, and thereby the lock hood is One end of a spring member that urges in a direction along the outer surface of the housing of one connector Connector, characterized in that fitted with. 2. The spring member is fixed by engaging one end of the spring member with a locking portion provided on the housing of the one connector or the lock hood, and a spring is provided around the locking portion. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing portion.