JP2727367B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention fits a connector, more specifically, a pin-side housing accommodating a plurality of pin contacts and a socket-side housing accommodating a plurality of socket contacts. By mating, in the connector that electrically connects both contacts, the plurality of pin contacts in the pin side housing and the plurality of socket contacts in the socket side housing are connected to each other before the mating. The present invention relates to a connector that is short-circuited and can be short-circuited by fitting a pin-side housing and a socket-side housing.

[Background Art] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-77287 discloses a terminal housing and a short-circuit member housing formed in one of connector housings which are fitted to face each other, and a terminal is short-circuited to the short-circuit housing. A connector is disclosed in which a conductive member is provided and the short-circuit is released by the other insulating member at the time of fitting.

In such prior art, since the short-circuit mechanism of the connector is provided only on one side of the male and female connector housings, that is, the pin contact housing and the socket contact housing, if this short-circuit function is used for protection of electrical components, It could not be used for monitoring or detecting whether or not both were completely fitted. Further, if this short-circuit function is used to detect complete fitting of both connector housings, it cannot be applied to protection of electrical components.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in this type of conventional connector, since the conductor short-circuit mechanism in both the male and female connectors exists only in one side, the detection of the mating or the protection of the device is performed. There is a problem that only one of them can be achieved.

The present invention solves this problem by providing a short-circuit mechanism on both the socket side and the pin side, using one of them to protect the electrical components, and checking whether the other is completely fitted. The present invention provides a connector that can be used for detection of a signal.

According to the present invention, by monitoring and detecting the fitted state of the connectors, failures and malfunctions of devices and devices can be prevented beforehand, and reliability and safety can be significantly improved.

[Configuration of the Invention] Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector of the present invention comprises a socket connector housing 10 and a pin connector housing 12 having a space for inserting a part thereof. Each of them has a socket contact and a pin contact attached to each end of a plurality of conductors, and when the two housings 10 and 12 are fitted together, the socket contact and the pin contact are electrically connected.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the socket connector housing 10 accommodates a plurality of socket contacts 20 separately, and separates adjacent normal socket contacts 20 into side walls.
A socket contact accommodating room 22 partitioned by 21;
Short-circuit contacts 24 separated by a bottom wall 23 of the accommodation room 22
And a short-circuit contact accommodating chamber 26 in which is disposed. Part of the short-circuit contact 24 is an opening in the bottom wall 23 of the accommodation room 22.
Projecting from 27, adjacent socket contacts 20 are short-circuited to each other.

To achieve this, the short-circuit contact 24 can be formed by stamping and forming an elastic metal thin plate as shown in FIG. That is, two rows of bottom plates 30 and 31 extending in the longitudinal direction in parallel with each other, a short-circuit portion 32 connecting the bottom plates 30 and 31, and both ends of each of the bottom plates 30 and 31 are bent in a U-shape. The spring contact portions 34 and 35 are turned upside down and curved upward.

When the short-circuiting contact 24 is disposed in the housing chamber 26, as shown in FIG. 2, the spring contact portions 34 and 35 project from the opening 27 of the bottom wall 23 of the socket contact housing chamber 22, and Contact is made with each of the adjacent socket contacts 20 that are arranged, and both socket contacts 20 are short-circuited by the short-circuit portion 32.

It should be noted that the socket contact housing 10 has a housing
Ten bottom plates 36 extend outward from the ends of the socket contact accommodating chamber 22 and the short-circuit contact accommodating chamber 26 to form guide portions 38 of the pin contact housing 12 fitted together.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the pin connector housing 12 accommodates a plurality of ordinary types of pin contacts 50 separately, and furthermore, the adjacent pin connectors 50; 51.
Are provided with pin contact accommodating chambers 54 which are separately partitioned by side walls 52.

According to the present invention, in order to short-circuit the adjacent pair of pin contacts 50;
A pair of short-circuit contacts (hereinafter referred to as "switch contacts") 56; 57 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of switch contacts 56 and 57 have completely similar shapes, and can be formed by stamping and forming an elastic metal thin plate. One switch contact 56 includes a flat plate portion 58 inserted between the pin contact 50 and the side wall 52, and first and second contact arms 60 which are divided into two upper and lower stages and branch outward in a V-shape from the flat plate portion 58. ; 62.

The other switch contact 57 has a flat plate portion 59 inserted between the pin contact 51 and the side wall 52 in the same manner as described above,
It has third and fourth contact arms 64 and 66 which are divided into upper and lower stages and branched outward in a V-shape.

When the switch contacts 56 and 57 are inserted into the pin connector housing 12, respectively, the first contact arm 60 of the switch contact 56 contacts a part of the pin contact 50 through the opening provided in the side wall 52, and the switch contact 57 The fourth contact arm 66 also contacts a part of the pin contact 51 similarly. Then, the second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm 64 below the respective switch contacts 56 and 57 contact each other at their tips.

As can be seen from the above description, when a plurality of pin contacts 50 and switch contacts 56 and 57, which constitute a pair, are arranged in the pin connector housing 12, the adjacent pin contacts 50 become switch contacts 56 and 57. The second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm 64 are in contact with each other and are short-circuited.

Therefore, when connecting the socket connector housing 10 and the pin connector housing 12, the socket contact 20 and the pin contact 50 come into contact with each other, and then the contact between the socket contact 20 and the short-circuiting contact 24 and the pin contact 50 are short-circuited. It is necessary to release the contact of the switch contacts 56 and 57 with the second and third contact arms 62 and 64, respectively, and release either of the contacts with the socket contact 20 and the pin contact 50. The contact must be made after the contact has been completely made.

To do so, according to the present invention, the midsole 68 of the casing 12 surrounding the pin contact 20 extends further forward than the tip of the pin contact 50, and the socket contact 20 and the pin contact 50 After the contact of the socket contact 20 and the contact 24 for short-circuiting, the portion of the midsole 68 thereof is inserted between the socket contact 20 and the contact 34 and 35 of the contact 24 for short-circuiting. Break the contact between them.

Further, the second contact portions 62 and the third contact portions 6 of the switch contacts 56, 57 for short-circuiting the pin contacts 50, 51 with each other.
In order to release the contact with the connector 4, the socket connector housing 10 is provided with a contact-releasing tongue 70 at a position where it can be inserted between the contact portions 62 and 64. As can be seen in FIG.
Pin contact 50 of the accommodation room 22 of the socket contact 20 of the
It is provided in front of the opening into which is inserted. Here, the socket connector housing 10 and the pin connector housing
When the socket contact 20 and the pin contact 50 are completely contacted, the adjacent pin contacts 50 and 51 are connected to the switch contact 5 until then.
Although the second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm 64 of 6 and 57 were in contact with each other and were in a short-circuit state, a socket connector was provided between the second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm 64. Tongue of housing 10
The breaking of 70 causes the contact arms 62 and 64 to be separated by the tongue 70.

[Operation and Effect of the Invention] Since the connector of the present invention has the structure described in detail above, if the socket connector housing 10 and the pin connector housing 12 are separated from each other without being fitted, the socket Since the plurality of socket contacts 20 in the connector housing 10 are short-circuited by the short-circuiting contacts 24, there is no potential difference between the socket contacts 20, and the socket contacts 20 are connected to the socket connector housing 10. Certain electrical circuits have no risk of malfunction.

Similarly, in the pin connector housing 12, the adjacent pin connectors 50 and 51 are connected to the switch contacts 56 and 57.
Are short-circuited to each other via the second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm 64. Therefore, there is no potential difference between the switch contacts 56 and 57, and this switch connector housing
Prevents malfunction of the electric circuit connected to 12.

On the other hand, for example, a circuit connected to the pin connector housing 12 has a pin contact 50 as shown in FIG.
When the switch 51 and the switch contacts 56 and 57 form a closed circuit, the pilot lamp 80 can be turned on. Then, the socket connector housing 10 and the pin connector housing 12 are fitted to each other, the two are not inserted correctly, and the pin contacts 50 and 51 are connected to the second contact arm 62 and the third contact arm of the switch contacts 56 and 57. When the contact is maintained without being detached by the tongue piece 70 of the socket connector housing 10 and the pilot lamp 80, the pilot lamp 80 is not turned off and a warning is given to the operator that the connection is not correct.

Therefore, the connector of the present invention is suitable for application to, for example, an automobile airbag system. 2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, an automobile airbag system is a device that protects an occupant from an impact in the event of a collision of an automobile.

That is, an air bag (a member containing a gas generating agent)
Is connected to a power supply battery and a collision sensor via a connector to form a circuit. It is convenient to apply the connector of the present invention as this connector.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram in which the socket connector housing 10 and the pin connector housing 12 of the present invention are used to connect the airbag detonator 90 and its control device 92, and the pin connectors 50 and 51 and the switch contacts are used. 56,
57 constitutes a fitted state monitoring circuit. If both connectors 10 and 12 are incompletely fitted, switch contact 5
With 6 and 57 connected, pilot lamp 80 is lit and an appropriate device is activated to generate an alarm. Also,
At the same time, since the short-circuiting contact 24 in the socket connector housing 10 is closed, the igniter 90 is not energized, and its malfunction can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a socket connector housing and a pin connector housing of a connector according to the present invention in an unfitted state, respectively, and FIG. 2 is a socket connector viewed along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the housing, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a short-circuit contact, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pin connector housing viewed in the direction of the arrow along IV-IV, FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a combination of switch contacts so as to short-circuit a pair of adjacent pin contacts, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the housing and the pin connector housing are fitted to each other. FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating a case where the connector of the present invention is applied to an airbag system of an automobile. The main reference numerals in the attached drawings are as follows. 10 Socket connector housing 12 Pin connector housing 20 Socket contact 24 Short-circuit contact 32 Short-circuit part 34, 35 Contact part 50, 51 Pin contact 56, 57 Switch contact 58 ... flat plate part 60 ... first contact arm 62 ... second contact arm 64 ... third contact arm 66 ... fourth contact arm 68 ... (12) insole 70 ... tongue piece

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Wataru Nakazato 1-7-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (56) References JP-A-60-253179 (JP, A) 62-28381 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A short-circuiting contact that contacts a pair of adjacent socket contacts of a plurality of socket contacts disposed in a socket connector housing, and a pair of adjacent pin contacts of a plurality of pin contacts disposed in a pin connector housing. A pair of switch contacts disposed adjacent to each other between the pin contacts, an arm contacting the switch contact with the pin contact, and an arm contacting the adjacent switch contact; and the socket connector. A tongue is provided on the side of the housing that is to be connected to the pin connector housing, and when the two contacts are inserted into each other, the contact between the socket contact and the pin contact is completely in contact with each other. Switch contact between the contact arms Connector comprising a can which is disposed a member to release the contact between the socket connector shorting contact and the socket contact similar to the housing into the pin connector housing. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said short-circuiting contact is made of an elastic metal thin plate and has a spring contact portion for contacting each of a pair of adjacent socket contacts. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said switch contact is made of an elastic metal thin plate and has a contact arm which is divided into a flat plate portion and divided into two stages and branches outward in a V-shape.