JP2014239002A - Electric connector and electric connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric connector capable of securing the strength even if a middle projecting wall erected on a bottom wall in a reception part for receiving a mating connector receives the forcible insertion and removal of the mating connector and careless external force, and also to provide an electric connector assembly between the electric connector and the mating connector.SOLUTION: A middle projecting wall 12 is arranged so as to be received by a corresponding central recess 45 formed in a fitting part of a mating connector. Both longitudinal direction end surfaces of the middle projecting wall 12 form an inclined plane 12A which are continuous in the direction of approaching to a bottom wall and an end wall of a peripheral wall by being extended to a lower part from an upper part of the middle projecting wall.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector having a center protruding wall for guiding the mating connector at a receiving portion for receiving the mating connector, and an electrical connector assembly including the mating connector and the mating connector.

  A connector in which a concave receiving portion is formed by a peripheral wall as a space for receiving the mating connector is not only guided and positioned with respect to the mating connector on the inner surface of the peripheral wall, but is also provided in an island shape in the receiving portion. In many cases, the central projecting wall is also made to enter a central recess formed corresponding to the fitting portion of the mating connector. By guiding not only the peripheral wall of the connector but also the central protruding wall, the guidance is easy and accurate, and the strength is improved when an external force is applied after fitting. An example of this type of connector is a pair of connectors disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  One connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 and called a receptacle connector includes a pair of side walls extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing and a pair of end walls connecting the pair of side walls in a short direction perpendicular to the housing. The side wall and the end wall form a peripheral wall, and in the peripheral wall, an island-shaped central protruding wall (convex portion) extending in the longitudinal direction is provided, and an annular shape formed between the peripheral wall and the central protruding wall The concave space is used as a receiving portion for the other connector called a plug connector. The side wall extending in the longitudinal direction and the end surface extending in the lateral direction stand up with a surface perpendicular to the surface of the bottom wall, that is, a surface extending in the connector fitting direction. The mating connector forms a central recess for receiving the central projecting wall on an inner surface and an inner end surface extending in the connector fitting direction so as to fit the central projecting wall.

  Thus, when the fitting portion of the other connector is fitted to the receiving portion of the one connector, the fitting portion of the other connector is an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall that defines the outer periphery of the receiving portion of the one connector; It will be guided by the outer peripheral surface of the central protruding wall that defines the inner periphery of the receiving part.

JP2007-018993

  When the connector receives the impact force at the time of dropping of the device in which the connector is adopted, or when the connector receives the external force directly on the other connector as the other connector, A large force may act relatively between the connectors in the longitudinal direction.

  The relative force acting between the two connectors in the longitudinal direction is also generated when the connector is inserted or removed. When the connector is pulled out, it is extremely ideal if the mating connector is pulled out in the opposite direction exactly in the fitting direction (that is, the direction perpendicular to the bottom wall). However, during the actual extraction operation, in order to make it easier for the operator to perform the extraction operation, the above-mentioned connector is pulled in a short direction that is the width direction, and the extraction with a twist that repeats the inclination in a forward and reverse direction is performed. Is called. In addition, fitting insertion is performed in the same manner, and so-called prying insertion is performed. In general, when pulling out one of the two mating members from the other, it is a common operation to pull out with a twist that repeats forward and reverse tilts without pulling straight in the pulling direction. is there. In the case of a connector, insertion / extraction in such an operation is referred to as prying insertion / extraction.

  In the insertion / extraction, a large force is repeatedly applied to the contact portion between both connectors. This force can be received by a relatively strong peripheral wall, and in some cases a reinforcing metal fitting or the like can be provided on the peripheral wall, which is easy to deal with. However, the central projecting wall is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the connector, and the side wall of the peripheral wall is connected to the end wall at the end to ensure strength. They are not connected to each other, there is no support, and the strength is rather low. In addition, no metal fitting is usually provided on the central projecting wall, and there is no dimensional margin to provide. With respect to the central projecting wall, an external force in the longitudinal direction due to a drop impact or a force caused by a twist in the lateral direction can only be received by the longitudinal end surface of the central projecting wall. Since the area of the end face in the longitudinal direction is small, the stress due to contact at the time of twisting is increased, and stress concentration is likely to occur, and the central protruding wall may be damaged at the longitudinal end face and in the vicinity thereof.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention reduces the stress at the time of insertion / extraction on the longitudinal end face of the central protruding wall and the stress concentration as much as possible, and has an electrical connector having a strong central protruding wall, and corresponding to this. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly with a mating connector formed in this manner.

  The electrical connector according to the present invention stands up from the periphery of the bottom wall of the housing and extends in the longitudinal direction of the housing, and the longitudinal ends of the pair of side walls are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. It has a peripheral wall formed by a pair of end walls connected in the short direction, and an island-like central protruding wall extending in the longitudinal direction is provided in the peripheral wall so as to stand up from the bottom wall. A receiving portion that receives the mating portion of the mating connector is formed between the peripheral wall and the central protruding wall, and a plurality of terminals are arranged and held in the housing with the longitudinal direction as the arrangement direction.

  In such an electrical connector, in the present invention, the center protruding wall is received in a corresponding central recess formed in the mating portion of the mating connector, and both longitudinal end surfaces of the center protruding wall are the bottom wall. And the inclined surface which continues in the direction approaching the end wall of a surrounding wall is formed from the upper part of this center protruding wall to the lower part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  In the conventional connector, the longitudinal end surface of the central projecting wall stands upright at right angles to the bottom wall. However, in the connector of the present invention, the longitudinal end surface of the central projecting wall is Since it has an inclined surface, the area of the end surface in the longitudinal direction is increased by the amount of inclination, so that the stress is reduced and, for example, an external force in the lateral direction (direction parallel to the bottom wall) is received. When the force of the component acting perpendicularly to the inclined surface is smaller than the lateral force, the stress is further reduced. In this way, stress reduction and stress concentration suppression can be achieved.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the central projecting wall has a transition curved surface portion in which a longitudinal end surface of the central projecting wall transitions in a convex curved surface toward the upper surface of the central projecting wall. This transition curved surface portion facilitates guidance when the mating connector is inserted / removed, and avoids sudden changes in shape to prevent stress concentration.

  In the present invention, the longitudinally opposed surfaces of the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall and the end wall of the peripheral wall facing the central protruding wall are located between the longitudinal end surface and the peripheral wall end wall in the longitudinal direction. It is preferable that the opposing surfaces in the short direction of the pair of side walls each form an inclined surface toward the bottom wall in the opposing direction.

  When fitting the mating connector, tilt the mating connector so that only one end in the longitudinal direction is lowered, and fit it by looking into the other end that is not lowered from the space formed between the connector of the present invention. There are many cases of joint operation. In that case, in the present invention, since the four inclined surfaces are formed toward the bottom wall on the one end side and the other end side with the long side facing surface and the short side facing surface, it is fitted in advance on the one end side. The corresponding part of the mating part of the mating connector that has entered the joint start operation is guided by the four inclined surfaces and easily and reliably brought to the normal mating position. If the other end side of the mating connector is lowered subsequently, the fitting proceeds and is completed. As described above, the guidance at the time of inserting the mating connector is smooth and reliable, and it is possible to cope with the twisting in either the longitudinal direction or the lateral direction even when the mating connector is pulled out.

  In the present invention, the assembly with the mating connector has a pair of side walls extending from the periphery of the bottom wall of the housing and extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing, and the longitudinal ends of the pair of side walls in the longitudinal direction. A peripheral wall formed by a pair of end walls connected in a short direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, and an island-shaped central projecting wall extending in the longitudinal direction rises from the bottom wall in the peripheral wall A receiving portion for receiving a mating portion of the mating connector is formed between the peripheral wall and the central protruding wall, and a plurality of terminals are arranged and held in the housing with the longitudinal direction as the alignment direction. The wall is received in a corresponding central recess formed in the mating portion of the mating connector, and both longitudinal end faces of the central projecting wall are continuous in a direction approaching the end wall of the bottom wall and the peripheral wall. It has an inclined surface An electrical connector and a mating connector fitted and connected to the electrical connector, and a central recess for receiving the central projecting wall of the electrical connector is formed in the mating portion provided in the mating connector. The inner end surface in the longitudinal direction is formed by forming an inclined surface in a direction approaching the central portion in the longitudinal direction toward the inner portion of the central recess.

  Since the longitudinal inner edge formed in the central recess of the mating connector forms an inclined surface, the inclined surface cooperates with the inclined surface formed as the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall of the connector to guide In terms of smoothness and low stress, they function as inclined surfaces.

  In the present invention, as described above, since the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall provided in the receiving portion for receiving the mating connector is an inclined surface, the stress generated by the insertion / extraction of the mating connector is reduced and the stress concentration is reduced. In this respect, it is possible to improve the strength of the connector.

It is a perspective view which shows one connector (receptacle connector) which comprises the electrical connector assembly as one Embodiment of this invention, and the other connector (plug connector) as a mating connector, (A) is one connector, ( B) is the other connector, and both are shown in a posture with the fitting direction on the upper side. It is a perspective view which shows both the connectors of FIG. 1 in the position and attitude | position just before fitting. It is a perspective view which shows one connector of FIG.1 and FIG.2 in the state from which the guide metal fitting was isolate | separated. It is a top view when the connector of FIG. 3 is attached to a circuit board. It is a perspective view which shows the other connector of FIG. 1 in the state from which the guide metal fitting was isolate | separated. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the position of a guide metal fitting shown in the position and attitude | position just before fitting of both the connectors of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the position of a guide metal fitting which shows the time of completion of fitting of both the connectors of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction in the center protrusion wall (center recessed part) position shown by the position and attitude | position just before fitting of both the connectors of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction at the center protruding wall (central recess) position, showing the completion of the fitting of both connectors in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle connector 1 (hereinafter referred to as a connector 1) according to the present embodiment and a plug connector 2 (hereinafter referred to as a mating connector 2) as a mating connector fitted to the receptacle connector 1 from above. In the state before the connector is mated, the mating side is shown upward, (A) is a receptacle connector, and (B) is a plug connector.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of both connectors shown in a posture immediately before mating, in which the mating connector 2 is fitted to the connector 1 positioned below, and the connector 1 is in the same posture as FIG. However, the mating connector 2 has a posture in which the one shown in FIG.

  The connector 1 and the mating connector 2 in this embodiment are electrical connectors for circuit boards that are arranged on mounting surfaces of different circuit boards (not shown), and are in a direction perpendicular to the surface of each circuit board (see FIG. 2, the connector assembly having the insertion / extraction direction is configured. In this embodiment, the fitting direction of the mating connector 2 with respect to the connector 1, that is, the direction in which the mating connector 2 is moved downward in FIG. 2 is defined as the “connector fitting direction”, and the opposite direction, that is, the upper direction in FIG. The direction toward the “connector extraction direction” will be described.

  Of the connector 1 and the mating connector 2, the connector 1 will be described first. As shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, the connector 1 has a thin housing 10 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, and the housing 10 is arranged and held in two rows by the housing 10 with the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 as a terminal arrangement direction. A plurality of terminals 20 and a guide fitting 30 which is held at the end of the housing 10 in the longitudinal direction and guides the mating connector. The connector 1 is arranged and mounted on a circuit board in the posture shown in FIG.

  The housing 10 is made of, for example, an electrical insulating material such as resin, and has a form extending with a direction parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board as a longitudinal direction (terminal arrangement direction). The housing 10 has a bottom wall 11 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) having a bottom surface parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board, and rises upward from the bottom wall 11 in FIG. It has an island-shaped central protruding wall 12 extending in the arrangement direction, and a frame-shaped peripheral wall 13 that stands upward from the peripheral portion of the bottom wall 11 and surrounds the central protruding wall 12. The peripheral wall 13 includes a pair of side walls 14 extending in the terminal arrangement direction, and a pair of end walls 15 extending in the connector width direction perpendicular to the terminal arrangement direction and connecting the ends of the pair of side walls 14. Have. An annular space opened upward between the central protruding wall 12 and the peripheral wall 13 surrounding the central protruding wall 12 is formed as a receiving portion 16 for receiving a corresponding island-shaped fitting portion of the mating connector 2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the side wall 14 includes a terminal holding portion 14A for arranging and holding a plurality of terminals to define a terminal arrangement region, and a region on both ends in the longitudinal direction with respect to the terminal holding portion 14A, that is, a terminal arrangement. It has the attaching part 14B for attaching the guide metal fitting 30 located outside the area. The mounting portion 14B is provided so as to bulge out from the terminal holding portion 14A in the connector width direction, and when viewed from above, forms a stepped shape with respect to the terminal holding portion 14A. In other words, when viewed from above, the mounting portion 14B is constricted by the terminal holding portion 14A. The position of the outer wall surface of the mounting portion 14B in the width direction is a width from the lower portion of the outer wall surface of the terminal holding portion 14A so that the terminal held by the terminal holding portion 14A of the side wall 14 is soldered to the circuit board. The position is slightly outside the connecting portion extending outward in the direction. Further, the position of the inner wall surface in the width direction of the mounting portion 14B is also a widened portion that is wider than the terminal holding portion 14A by the thickness of the guide fitting 30 described later. And a guide metal fitting is stored in the said wide part. When the guide metal fitting is accommodated in such a widened portion, the inner leg portion 31A and the lock projection 31A-1 of the guide metal fitting, the inner surface of the side wall of the housing, and the protrusion 21A formed on the terminal become substantially the same level surface, The mating connector can be smoothly guided when the connector is inserted, and the strength at the time of guiding is improved by the guide on the metal surface. The housing 10 will be described in detail again in relation to the terminal 20 and the guide fitting 30.

  The terminal 20 is formed by bending a band-shaped metal plate in the thickness direction, and when viewed in the terminal arrangement direction, the terminal 20 has a lateral S-shape obtained by connecting an inverted U-shaped portion and a U-shaped portion. Yes. The inverted U-shaped portion of the terminal 20 has an inner leg portion and an outer leg portion, forms a held portion 21 held by the terminal holding portion 14A of the side wall 14, and straddles the terminal holding portion 14A. For example, it is attached by integral molding, and the inner leg portion and the outer leg portion are respectively located on the inner surface and the outer surface of the side wall 14. The U-shaped portion has a lower curved portion that is concavely bent along the bottom wall 11 and extends from the lower position of the terminal holding portion 14 </ b> A on the side wall to the position of the side surface of the central protruding wall 12. A portion that forms the free end side of the U-shaped portion is located on the side surface of the central protruding wall 12 and forms an elastic arm 22. The inner leg of the held portion 21 is provided with a protruding portion 21A that makes contact with and locks with the mating terminal, and at a position opposite to this, on the free end side of the elastic arm 22 of the U-shaped portion. A contact portion 22A that is bent so as to protrude in a horizontal V shape toward the inner leg portion is provided, and the contact portion 22A contacts the mating terminal of the mating connector with contact pressure, and the opposite side Thus, the protruding portion 21A is locked and locked to prevent it from coming off. Such a terminal 20 is similarly held on both of the two side walls 14 located opposite to each other, is located symmetrically with respect to the island-shaped central protruding wall 12 in the connector width direction, and is regularly spaced in the longitudinal direction. Are arranged in Since the present invention is not intended to be a terminal, further description of the terminal is omitted.

  The mounting portion 14B forming the longitudinal end array region of the side wall 14 has a mounting groove 14B-1 extending over the upper surface and the inner and outer surfaces of the mounting portion 14B with a groove depth having a dimension corresponding to the thickness of a guide fitting described later. It is formed in an inverted U shape. The end wall 15 that connects the mounting portions 14B of the two side walls 14 facing each other in the connector width direction at the same end side position in the longitudinal direction is also the same as the mounting groove 14B-1 in the center position in the connector width direction. An auxiliary mounting groove 15A is formed. Similarly to the mounting groove 14B-1, the sub mounting groove 15A extends in an inverted U shape from the upper surface to the inner and outer surfaces of the end wall 15, and the sub mounting groove 15A is formed at a position near the bottom wall 11 of the housing 10. The connecting portion 17 communicates with the mounting groove 14B-1. Two opposing mounting portions 14B in which the mounting groove 14B-1 is formed and the end wall 15 in which the sub mounting groove 15A is formed have a horizontal U shape having a right angle when viewed from above, and the upper surface Is inclined inward, that is, has a downwardly inclined slope toward the receiving portion 16.

  The guide fitting 30 is made by bending a metal plate in the plate thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide fitting 30 faces the connector width direction and is formed in the mounting groove 14B formed in the mounting portion 14B of the housing 10. -1 to be attached to two attachment portions 31 having an inverted U shape so as to be attached to the sub-mounting groove 15A formed on the end wall 15 of the housing 10. It has the attachment part 32 and the connection part 33 which forms a contact surface or a clearance gap in the inner surface of the said end wall 15, and is located. The two attached portions 31 are connected by the connecting portion 33.

  As shown in FIG. 6 showing the cross section of the attached portion 31, the inner leg portion 31A and the outer leg portion 31B, which are formed in an inverted U shape and are located inside and outside the attaching portion 14B of the side wall 14, And an upper plate portion 31C to be connected. The attached portion 31 is press-fitted and attached to the attachment groove 14B-1 of the attachment portion 14B from above, and after attachment, the inner surface of the attached portion 31 is positioned along the groove surface of the attachment groove 14B-1.

  When the fitting portion 31 is press-fitted into the attachment groove 14B-1, both end edges (thick surfaces located at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the connector) are the inner portions in the groove width direction of the attachment groove 14B-1. The mounting holding force is increased by receiving a reaction force from the edge during press-fitting. A protrusion 31B-1 is provided on the side edge of the outer leg portion 31B, and it bites into the mounting groove 14B-1, thereby strengthening its holding force. The upper plate portion 31C of the attached portion 31 forms an inclining slope toward the inside, that is, toward the receiving portion 16, and forms a guide surface for the mating connector. Further, the inner leg portion 31A is provided with a lock projection 31A-1 that is engaged with the corresponding portion of the mating connector in a horizontally long manner. Further, the top plate portion 31 </ b> C has a vertex that is substantially the same height as the vertex of the mounting portion 14 </ b> B of the housing 10, and is located inward of the slope formed on the housing 10. Note that the lock protrusion of the guide metal fitting 30 may be concave or slit-shaped. In this case, it goes without saying that the mating connector-corresponding portion has a protrusion.

  The sub-attached portion 32 rises from the upper edge of the connecting portion 33 that connects the two attached portions 31 to each other and is bent outward and bent downward at the outer surface position of the end wall 15 to form an inverted U shape. I am doing. The sub-attached portion 32 also has an inner leg portion 32A, an outer leg portion 32B, and an upper plate portion 32C inclined inward, like the above-described attached portion 31, and is similar to the attached portion 31. It functions in the same manner with a reverse U-shape, and the mounting holding force is similarly increased in response to the reaction force caused by press fitting into the auxiliary mounting groove 15A. The top plate portion 32C has a vertex that is substantially the same height as the vertex of the end wall 15 of the housing 10 and is located inward of the slope formed on the housing. Note that the inner leg portion 32A may also be provided with a lock protrusion that engages with the mating connector corresponding portion.

  The inner leg portion 31A of the attached portion 31 and the inner leg portion 32A of the sub attached portion 32 are connected by a connecting portion 33 at their lower portions. The connecting portion 33 forms a contact surface or a gap at the lower part of the inner surface of the peripheral wall 13, and the connecting portion 33 has an intermediate L so as to fit the inner corner that is the intersection of the mounting portion 14B and the end wall 15. It is bent in a letter shape.

  In the connector 1, a central protruding wall 12 that rises in an island shape on the bottom wall 11 of the housing 10 has a shape that enters a corresponding central recess of the mating connector 2. A groove for accommodating the elastic arm 22 of the terminal 20 is formed on a side surface of the central projecting wall 12, and only a contact portion 22 </ b> A bent to the elastic arm 22 is located outside the groove. The position of the groove 22 is variable according to the elastic displacement of the contact portion 22A.

  In the central protruding wall 12, longitudinal end surfaces (wall surfaces located at both ends in the longitudinal direction) form a continuous inclined surface 12 </ b> A in a direction approaching the bottom wall 11 and the end wall 15. In this embodiment, the inclined surface 12A transitions with a convex curved surface and a concave curved surface with respect to the upper surface 12B and the bottom wall 11 of the central protruding wall 12, respectively, and the inclination changes continuously, and is discontinuous. The continuous inclined surface is formed over almost the entire height of the central protruding wall 12 without changing the inclination.

  The inclined surface 12A at the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall 12 and the inner leg portion 32A of the sub-attached portion 32 of the guide metal fitting 30 on the opposite end wall 15 formed in this way, and further, the longitudinal Is located between the longitudinal end face and the inner leg portion 32A in the direction and forms a space surrounded by the inner leg portion 31A of the attached portion 31 facing in the connector width direction from four directions, and the corresponding portion of the mating connector 2 is formed here. Is inserted. At that time, the upper end side of the inclined surface 12A on the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall 12 has a convex curved surface as a transition portion of 12B to the upper surface, and the guide metal fitting 30 has an upper plate portion 32C of the sub-attachment portion 32, two Since the upper plate portion 31C of the one attached portion 31 is an inwardly inclined surface and is located inward from the inclined surface formed in the housing, the corresponding portion of the mating connector 2 is the inclined surface. To easily enter the space.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the terminal 20 of the connector 1 described above, the connection portion 23 for connecting to the circuit board P extends outward from the lower portion of the outer surface of the terminal holding portion 14 </ b> A of the side wall 14 of the housing 10. ing. Since the outer surface of the mounting portion 14B of the housing 10 is located slightly outside the tip of the connection portion 23 of the terminal 20 in the connector width direction, the strength of the mounting portion is increased and the connection portion 23 Even if the solder pad P1 to be soldered is slightly protruded from the tip of the connection portion 23, the circuit board area occupied for the pad P1 is substantially the same in the connector width direction and the mounting portion 14B. The surface of the substrate can be used effectively.

  Next, although the mating connector 2 is used, in this embodiment, the mating connector 2 is also used by being attached to a corresponding circuit board in the same manner as the connector 1 described above. Therefore, when the connector 1 and the mating connector are fitted and connected, the circuit portions of the two circuit boards are connected to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mating connector 2 includes a housing 40 made of an electrically insulating material, terminals 50 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the housing 40 held by the housing 40, and out of the terminal arrangement range. And a guide metal fitting 60 attached to both ends of the housing 40.

  The housing 40 is fitted into a receiving portion 16 that forms an annular recess formed in the housing 10 of the connector 1 described above, that is, a space formed between the island-shaped central protruding wall 12 and the peripheral wall 13 that surrounds it. A rectangular frame-shaped peripheral wall 41 and a bottom wall 42 are provided. The peripheral wall 41 includes a side wall 43 and an end wall 44, and forms a central recess 45 that receives the central protruding wall 12 of the connector 1.

  The terminal 50 is made by bending a metal strip member in the thickness direction. The terminal 50 extends laterally from the inverted U-shaped held portion 51 held by the upper portion of the side wall 43 of the housing (the upper portion in the state of FIG. 1B) and the bottom wall 42 of the housing 40. And a connecting portion 52 to be soldered to the substrate. The surface of the inner leg portion of the held portion 51 having an inverted U shape forms a contact portion 51A where the contact portion 22A provided on the elastic arm 22 of the terminal 20 of the connector 1 is elastically contacted, and the held portion On the surface of the outer leg portion of 51, there is provided a lock recess 51B in which a projection 21A for locking the terminal 20 is engaged. Since the present invention is not intended to be a terminal, further description of the terminal is omitted.

  The guide fitting 60 functions to be guided to the normal position by being guided by the guide fitting 30 of the connector 1 when fitted to the connector 1. The metal fittings 30 and 60 are often relatively displaced from their proper mating positions immediately before the mating is started, and at the time of mating, they are in contact with each other, particularly at the ends and corners of the connector. The contact force is relatively large. Therefore, it is meaningful that they are the same metal fitting in that they sufficiently resist the abutting impact force and the frictional force in the fitting process.

  Similar to the guide fitting 30 of the connector 1, the guide fitting 60 is made by bending a metal plate in the plate thickness direction, and is attached to the housing 40 from the upper surface side of the housing 40 at the end in the longitudinal direction. The upper surface portion 61A located on the upper surface side, the side surface portion 61B located on the outer surface of the side wall 43 of the housing 40, and the end surface portion 61C located on the outer surface of the end wall 44 of the housing 40 are integrally provided. As shown in FIG. 4, two upper surface portions extending obliquely from the end surface portion 61 </ b> C extending in the connector width direction along the end wall 44 toward the two opposing side walls 43 to form a V-shaped edge. 61A is bent downward along the outer surface of the side wall 43 to form side portions 61B. A locking slit 62 extending in the lateral direction is formed in the side surface portion 61B. A lock projection 31A-1 formed on the attached portion 31 is engaged with the slit 1A. The guide fitting 30 of the connector 1 has a form in which the attached portion 31 and the sub attached portion 32 extend from the inner surface side of the peripheral wall 13 of the housing 10 to the outer surface side. At the end, the end of the peripheral wall 41 is covered from the outer surface side.

  The lower end of the side surface portion 61B of the guide metal fitting 60 is bent along the lower surface of the bottom wall 42 of the housing 40 and locked to the lower surface as shown in FIG. ing.

  The guide metal fitting 60 is guided by the attached portion 31 of the guide metal fitting 30 of the connector 1 in a range from the rounded shoulder portion serving as a boundary between the upper surface portion 61A and the side surface portion 61B to the side surface portion 61B. A range from the round shoulder portion to the end surface portion 61 </ b> C serving as a boundary between the portion 61 </ b> A and the end surface portion 61 </ b> C is guided by the sub-attached portion 32 of the guide fitting 30.

  The inner surface of the end wall 44 of the housing 40, that is, the inner end surface of the longitudinal end portion of the central recess 45 that receives the central projecting wall 12 of the connector 1 approaches the longitudinal center portion toward the bottom of the central recess 45. An inclined surface 45A is formed (see FIG. 8). The inclined surface 45A is preferably substantially the same as the inclination angle of the inclined surface 12A formed on the longitudinal end surface of the central protruding wall 12 of the connector 1. Thus, the portion of the housing 40 that is exposed between the two upper surface portions 61A of the guide fitting 60 (the portion that appears in a substantially V shape on the upper surface of the end wall 44) is the inclined surface 45A. It is guided by a central protruding wall 12 which is a housing part of the same connector 1.

  The connector 1 and the mating connector 2 configured as described above are used as an electrical connector assembly.

  In use, the connector 1 and the mating connector 2 are attached to the respective circuit boards, and lean to the position just before fitting as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the circuit board itself is not shown, but in FIG. 2, the connector 1 has a circuit board located on the bottom surface of the bottom wall, and the mating connector 2 has a bottom wall facing upward. The circuit boards are respectively positioned on the upper surface of the connector 1 and the connector 1 and the mating connector 2 face each other in a direction in which the circuit boards are fitted to each other in a state where the circuit boards are parallel to each other. In the figure of this embodiment, the circuit board is not shown except for FIG.

  The mating connector 2 is lowered toward the connector 1 as it is in the posture immediately before the mating shown in FIG. When the fitting is started at the normal position, the peripheral wall 41 of the mating connector 2 is fitted into the annular receiving portion 16 of the connector 1, and at the same time, the central protruding wall of the connector 1 is inserted into the central recess 45 of the mating connector 2. 12 enters, and both the connectors 1 and 2 are fitted so as to mesh with each other (see FIGS. 7 and 9). In the start of fitting and the fitting process, the guide fittings 30 and 60 are in sliding contact with each other for guidance. That is, the inner side legs 31A and 32A of the two attached portions 31 and the sub attached portion 32 of the guide fitting 30 provided in the connector 1 are two side portions 61B of the guide fitting 60 provided in the connector 2. Corresponding to the end face portion 61C, they are slidably contacted with each other under the same metal contact and guided to each other to the normal position.

  When the fitting is completed, the contact portion 22A of the terminal 20 of the connector 1 comes into contact with the contact portion 51A of the terminal 50 of the mating connector 2, and the locking projection 21A of the terminal is locked to the lock recess 51B of the mating terminal 50. Thus, the connector can be prevented from coming off and the proper contact position between the terminals can be maintained. On the other hand, in the guide metal fitting 30 of the connector 1, the lock projection 31A-1 is engaged with the slit 62 of the guide metal fitting 60 of the mating connector 2, so that the connector can be prevented from coming off strongly.

  The mating connector 2 has a normal position and posture immediately before mating with the connector 1, and is not necessarily mated as it is. Rather, the actual situation is that there are more cases where the positions are slightly shifted in either direction and are tilted. The bottom wall of the mating connector 2 (not shown, but the circuit board protrudes from the top surface of the bottom wall around the connector in the posture shown in FIG. Therefore, it is often difficult to confirm, so that an operator who performs connector fitting usually brings the circuit board of the mating connector 2 close to the connector 1 only at one end in the longitudinal direction of the mating connector 2, and the other end in the longitudinal direction. In this inclined state, the fitting is surely started on one end side, and then the other end side is lowered and fitted to complete the fitting.

  When the mating connector 2 is started to be fitted to the connector 1 from one end in the longitudinal direction, the position on the one end side of the mating connector 2 is that the end surface portion 61C of the guide metal fitting 60 of the mating connector 2 is the guide of the connector 1. It slides on the upper plate part 32C formed as an inclined surface in the sub-attachment part 32 of the metal fitting 30, and is guided to the receiving part 16 in the longitudinal direction, and the inner leg part of the sub-attachment part 32 at a predetermined position. It is guided by 32A and enters toward the bottom of the receiving part 16. When there is a displacement in the connector width direction at the beginning of the fitting, one of the two side surfaces 61B of the guide fitting 60 of the mating connector 2 corresponds to one of the two attached portions 31 of the guide fitting 30 of the connector 1. It abuts on one side, slides on the inclined surface of the upper plate portion 31C, moves in the connector width direction, reaches the normal position, and brings it to the fitting position on the one end side.

  Such a start of fitting from one end side in the longitudinal direction is usually performed frequently, and a large contact force acts on the one end side. In the present invention, the guide metal fitting 30 is located at a site where the large contact force acts, and the guide metal fitting 30 is fixedly attached to the housing, so that the metal contact with the guide metal fitting of the mating connector is achieved. Thus, it is possible to improve wear resistance, improve the strength of the guide fitting itself, and secure the mounting strength of the guide fitting.

  When the other end side begins to descend after the mating connector 2 has been fitted to the one end side in the longitudinal direction to some extent, the longitudinal end surface 12A of the central projecting wall 12 of the connector 1 has an inclined surface on the one end side. Therefore, it easily enters the central recess 45 toward the inclined surface 45A similarly formed in the central recess 45 of the mating connector 2, and the mating connector 2 is rotated at the other end so as to rotate around the one end side. When the side is lowered, the end face 12A in the longitudinal direction of the central protruding wall 12 and the inclined surface 45A of the central recess 45 deepen the degree of fitting smoothly.

  When the connector assembly is inadvertently dropped or forcibly subjected to twisting when the connector is pulled out after the connector is fitted, the central protruding wall 12 provided on the connector housing 10 is relatively thin. Since a reinforcing metal plate or the like cannot be provided, external force in the longitudinal direction must be received with a small cross-sectional area. However, in the present invention, the longitudinal end surface 12A of the central protruding wall 12 of the connector 1 is thick in the longitudinal direction, and the corresponding inclined surfaces 45A of the central recess 45 of the mating connector correspond to the corresponding inclined surfaces. Since the contact is made on the surface, the inclined surface, i.e., the contact surface becomes larger and the contact stress decreases, and the external force is applied in the lateral direction, i.e., the longitudinal direction. When acting as a component force in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface, the component force itself is reduced by the inclination, so that the longitudinal end surface 12A greatly contributes not only to the guide but also to the strength. . Further, when the forcible force in the width direction is applied when the connector is pulled out, the longitudinal end surface 12A of the central protruding wall 12 of the connector 1 is thick in the longitudinal direction. Even if a force acts in the width direction of the longitudinal end of the connector 1 center protruding wall 12 by the direction end portion, it greatly contributes to the strength.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 14 Side wall 2 Mating connector 15 End wall 10 Housing 16 Receiving part 11 Bottom wall 45 Center recessed part 12 Center protruding wall 45A Inclined surface 13 Perimeter wall

Claims (4)

A pair of side walls standing up from the periphery of the bottom wall of the housing and extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing, and a pair of side walls connecting the longitudinal ends of the pair of side walls in a short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction A peripheral wall formed by an end wall, and an island-like central projecting wall extending in the longitudinal direction is provided in the peripheral wall so as to stand up from the bottom wall. In the electrical connector in which the receiving portion for receiving the mating portion of the mating connector is formed, and the plurality of terminals are arranged and held in the housing with the longitudinal direction as the arrangement direction,
The central protruding wall is adapted to be received in a corresponding central recess formed in the mating portion of the mating connector so that both longitudinal end faces of the central protruding wall approach the bottom wall and the end wall of the peripheral wall. An electrical connector characterized in that a continuous inclined surface is formed from the upper part to the lower part of the central protruding wall.   2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the central projecting wall has a transition curved surface portion in which a longitudinal end surface of the central projecting wall makes a convex curved surface toward the upper surface of the central projecting wall. .   A pair of side walls located between the longitudinal end face and the end wall of the peripheral wall in the longitudinal direction are mutually opposite longitudinal faces of the longitudinal end face of the central protruding wall and the end wall of the peripheral wall facing the central protruding wall. 3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein each of the opposing surfaces in the lateral direction forms an inclined surface toward the bottom wall in the opposing direction.   A pair of side walls standing up from the periphery of the bottom wall of the housing and extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing, and a pair of side walls connecting the longitudinal ends of the pair of side walls in a short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction A peripheral wall formed by an end wall, and an island-like central projecting wall extending in the longitudinal direction is provided in the peripheral wall so as to stand up from the bottom wall. A receiving portion for receiving the mating connector fitting portion is formed between the housing, a plurality of terminals are arranged and held in the housing with the longitudinal direction as the arrangement direction, and the central protruding wall is formed in the mating connector fitting portion. An electrical connector adapted to be received in a corresponding central recess, wherein both longitudinal end faces of the central projecting wall form an inclined surface which is continuous in a direction approaching the bottom wall and the end wall of the peripheral wall, The other party to be connected A center recess for receiving the central projecting wall of the electrical connector is formed in the fitting portion provided in the mating connector, and the inner end surface in the longitudinal direction of the center recess is at the back of the center recess. An electrical connector assembly, wherein an inclined surface is formed in a direction toward the central portion in the longitudinal direction.

Images