JP3159053B2 - connector - Google Patents

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 fitting detecting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a connector interposed in an important circuit such as an airbag circuit has an electrical fitting detection function for accurately detecting whether or not the connector is properly fitted. Have been. In detail, a short-circuit terminal is built into one connector housing, and when both connector housings are properly fitted and locked by a lock lever, the short-circuit terminal is provided in the other connector housing in conjunction with the short-circuit terminal. The contact state is short-circuited to electrically detect the fitted state.

[0003]

However, in the above-described detection method, detection can be performed only at a place where the detection device is installed, such as a final inspection step in a connector assembly line. On the other hand, in some cases, it is desired to check the fitted state even in the middle of the assembly line, but this has not been possible with the conventional method. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a connector having a function of easily detecting a fitted state visually without installing a special inspection device. And

[0004]

As a means for achieving the above object, according to an aspect of, the invention of claim 1, one of the connectors Howe pair of connector housings to be fitted to each other
The managing, in visible surface from the outside when both connector housings is fitted, a sensing member movable between a advanced position projecting from the surface and a retracted position retracted into its side, its provided a biasing means for moving biasing the sensing member on either one of position side of the two positions, the locking means against the urging force is always the sensing member engaging the other positions
It is, on the other connector housing, characterized in was configured to unlocking means to release the locking of the locking means when the two connector housings is fitted to the normal is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the detecting member is always locked at the advanced position, and moves to the retracted position when both connector housings are properly fitted. It has a characteristic where it is. The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2,
A fixed contact provided near the movement area of the detection member,
It is characterized in that it comprises a movable contact which comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact in response to the movement of the detection member.

[0006]

Function and Effect of the Invention

<Invention of Claim 1> The detection member is always locked at one of the forward and backward positions against the urging force. In this state, the connector is in a non-fitted or semi-fitted state. When the two connector housings are properly fitted, the locking of the detecting member is released, and the detecting member is moved to a position opposite to the locked position by the urging force. That is, the fitting state of the connector can be easily and accurately detected by visually checking the position of the detection member.

<Invention of Claim 2> When the connector is properly fitted, the detecting member is retracted, so that when the connector is installed at a predetermined mounting place, there is little possibility of interference with other members. And so on.

When the connector is properly fitted and the detecting member moves to a predetermined position, the contact state of the movable contact and the fixed contact is switched, and the fitted state is electrically detected. Becomes possible. That is, in addition to the mechanical type, an electrical fitting detection function can be provided.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> FIGS. 1 to 10 show a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment exemplifies a PCB connector. As shown in FIG. 1, a male-side connector housing 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a male housing) connected to a printed wiring board and a female fitted thereto. Side connector housing 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as a female housing).

The male housing 1 is formed in a box shape with an open front surface on the fitting side by a synthetic resin material, and a plurality of L-shaped male terminal fittings are formed in the male housing 1. One end of 3 is aligned and protruded from a predetermined position on the inner surface. As shown in FIG. 8, the other end of each male terminal fitting 3 penetrates an alignment plate 4 protruding from the bottom of the rear surface of the male housing 1 and projects downward to be connected to a contact of a printed wiring board (not shown). It is possible. Male terminal fitting 3
Of these, the two male terminal fittings at the center of the uppermost stage serve as detection terminals 3a for fitting detection described later.

The female housing 2 is also formed of a synthetic resin material, and is formed in a block shape that can be fitted into the male housing 1 described above. Inside the female housing 2,
A plurality of cavities 6 are formed in alignment, and each cavity 6 has a female terminal fitting 8 fixed to an end of an electric wire 7.
(See FIG. 8) are accommodated, and each female terminal fitting 8 is accommodated.
Can be individually fitted and connected to the male terminal fitting 3 excluding the detection terminal 3a on the male housing 1 side.

At the center of the upper surface of the female housing 2 is provided a lock arm 10 for locking the male housing 1 in a fitted state, and a mounting space 12 for mounting a short-circuit terminal 11 is provided below the lock arm 10. Is provided. The lock arm 10 is provided so as to extend from the front edge to the rear edge of the female housing 2, and as shown in FIG. 8, the distal end on which the pressing operation portion 14 is formed is bent toward the mounting space 12. Deformable. The front surface of the lock arm 10 has an inclined surface 1 at the center in the length direction.
6 are formed.

On the other hand, an insertion groove 18 into which the above-mentioned lock arm 10 can enter is formed at the center portion in the width direction of the ceiling surface in the male housing 1 so as to open to the front.
On the ceiling surface of the insertion groove 18, a projecting portion 19 that can strike the locking projection 15 of the lock arm 10 is provided in a protruding manner, and an inclined riding surface 20 is formed on the front end side thereof.

That is, when the female housing 2 is fitted into the male housing 1, the abutting portion 19 abuts on the inclined surface 16 of the locking ridge 15 during the fitting, as shown in FIG. When the lock arm 10 is pushed into the mounting space 12 side while being bent and deformed, and the female housing 2 is fitted to the inner surface of the male housing 1, that is, to the regular position, the locking ridge 15 is formed.
Reaches the rear of the abutment portion 19, and as shown in FIG.
By being locked to the rear surface of the vehicle, it is locked in a retaining state. From the above-mentioned locked state, when the pressing operation unit 14 is pressed to bend the lock arm 10,
Since the locking ridge 15 is released, the fitting can be released by pulling it out.

[0015] The structure of the electrical fitting detection portion that operates in conjunction with the above-described locking operation is as follows. The shorting terminal 11 is mounted in the mounting space 12 of the female housing 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the short-circuit terminal 11 includes two elastic contact pieces 2 spaced from each other.
2, a connection plate 23 also serving as a mounting portion is provided across the base end side,
In addition, the structure has a structure in which the pressed portion 24 stands up at the tip of each of the elastic contact pieces 22. This short-circuit terminal 11
As shown in FIG. 8, the connection plate 23 is attached by inserting the connection plate 23 into an attachment groove 26 formed in the bottom surface portion of the front edge of the mounting space 12, and each elastic contact piece 22 has a distal end facing rearward. It is configured to take an inclined posture with an ascending slope, and the distal end side can be elastically deformed downward. Then, when the female housing 2 is fitted into the male housing 1, the two detection terminals 3 a provided on the male housing 1 can enter toward the upper surface of the tip of the elastic contact piece 22. Has become.

A receiving plate 2 for restricting upward deformation of the detection terminals 3a is provided on the upper surface side of the detection terminals 3a.
7 are formed to protrude from the inner surface. On the one mounting space 12 side, a guide plate 28 for guiding the receiving plate 27 along the lower surface side is formed so as to be folded from the front edge to the rear edge side. Specifically, when the female housing 2 is fitted close to the inner surface of the male housing 1, the detection terminal 3 a enters the mounting space 12 until the detection terminal 3 a can contact the elastic contact piece 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the lock arm 10 is bent downward and deforms the elastic contact piece 22 downward by pressing the pressed portion 24, so that the detection terminal 3a and the elastic contact piece 22 are deformed downward.
Has not yet contacted. However, as shown in FIG. 10, when the female housing 2 is properly fitted and the lock arm 10 is restored to its original shape, the pressing force against the pressed portion 24 is removed, and the elastic contact piece 22 is also restored and deformed. The setting is such that the corresponding detection terminal 3a is pressed against the receiving plate 27 with the corresponding detection terminal 3a interposed therebetween.

In this embodiment, a mechanical fitting detection function is added, and the structure will be described below. At the upper right corner of the female housing 2 as viewed from the back, a detection pin 31 is provided so as to be able to move back and forth in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the detection pin 31 is formed in a round bar shape, and a stopper plate 33 is provided at the rear end thereof via spring supports 32 formed on both the left and right sides in a projecting manner. The pin 31 is a rear plate 2a of the female housing 2.
The device is freely movable along the front-rear direction through the insertion hole 35 opened at the bottom. Around the detection pin 31,
A compression coil spring 37 is attached to both ends of the spring receiver 32 and the inner surface of the back plate 2a.
The moving force in the direction of being drawn into the female housing 2 is urged against the female housing 2. A stopper 31a is fixed to the tip of the detection pin 31 by post-attachment such as bonding or press-fitting. On the other hand, the outer diameter of the insertion hole 35 is fitted with the stopper 31a. The portion 35a is formed in a stepped shape, and the stopper 31a is fitted and locked in the enlarged diameter portion 35a, so that the detection pin 31 is prevented from falling out of the front of the female housing 2. .

A pair of locking arms 39 are disposed on the left and right sides slightly below the detection pin 31. The locking arm 39 is connected to the rear plate 2 of the female housing 2.
a, a hook portion 40 for locking is provided on the upper surface of the distal end, and the distal end side can be bent and deformed downward. The hook 40 of the locking arm 39
Is locked to the spring receiver 32 of the detection pin 31, so that the movement of the detection pin 31 in the retracting direction is restricted, and the distal end side of the detection pin 31 is set to protrude outside the back plate 2a.

On the other hand, a pair of left and right release arms 42 project from the inner surface of the male housing 1. The hook 40 of the locking arm 39 is provided on the lower surface of the tip of the release arm 42.
And a hook portion 43 which can be brought into contact therewith. Specifically, when the female housing 2 is pushed into the male housing 1 and reaches a short distance where the female housing 2 is properly fitted, the hooks 40 and 43 of the arms 39 and 42 come into contact with each other as shown in FIG. When further fitted, the locking arm 39 gradually bends and deforms downward, and when the housings 1 and 2 are properly fitted, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the hook portion 40 of the locking arm 39 bends and deforms until it rides on the top of the hook portion 43 of the release arm 42, so that the lock on the spring receiver 32 is released, and the detection pin 3 is released.
1 can be moved in the retracting direction. The movement in the direction in which the detection pin 31 is pulled in is performed by the stopper plate 3.
3 is restricted by abutting against the inner surface of the male housing 1,
At this time, the tip of the detection pin 31 is set so that the stopper 31a fits into the insertion hole 35 while being fitted into the enlarged diameter portion 35a.

The first embodiment has the above structure, and its operation will be described below. First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and 4, the detection pin 31 is engaged with the female housing 2 with its tip protruding to the rear side and mounted, and the short-circuit terminal 11 is mounted in the mounting space 12. . Then, the female housing 2 on which the female terminal fittings 8 are mounted is fitted into the mating male housing 1.

When the female housing 2 is pushed into the male housing 1 as shown in FIG. 5, the inclined surface 40a of the hook 40 of the locking arm 39 projects from the male housing 1. Abuts on the inclined surface 43a of the hook 43 of the released arm 42. When pushed further from there, the tip of the locking arm 39 is gradually bent downward and deformed by being guided by the two inclined surfaces 40a and 43a.

When the female housing 2 comes into contact with the inner surface of the male housing 1, that is, when the male and female terminal fittings 3 and 8 are pushed to the positions where they are properly fitted, as shown in FIG. The hook 40 bends and deforms until it rides on the top of the hook 43 of the release arm 42, the hook 40 comes off the spring receiver 32, and the detection pin 31 becomes the compression coil spring 37.
Is drawn into the female housing 2 by the restoring elasticity of the female housing. The detection pin 31 stops when the stopper plate 33 comes into contact with the inner surface of the male housing 1, and the tip of the detection pin 31 is inserted into the insertion hole 35.
It is pulled in until it fits in. That is, the detection pin 31
Initially, as shown in FIG. 1, it protrudes from the rear plate 2a of the female housing 2, but as shown in FIG. 2, the two housings 1 and 2 are properly fitted by being retracted almost flush with the rear plate 2a. Can be visually detected.

On the other hand, during the above-mentioned fitting operation, the lock arm 10 provided on the female housing 2 is inserted into the insertion groove 18 of the male housing 1, and the female housing 2 is moved to a position slightly before the regular fitting position. When pushed in, as shown in FIG. 9, the detection terminal 3a enters the mounting space 12 until the detection terminal 3a can contact the elastic contact piece 22 of the short-circuit terminal 11, but the lock arm 10 is mounted so as to match the timing. Deflected to the space 12 side, the pressed portion 24 of the short-circuit terminal 11
Is pressed to cause the elastic contact piece 22 to bend and deform downward, so that the detection terminal 3a and the elastic contact piece 22 have not yet come into contact with each other.

The female housing 2 is connected to the male housing 1
As shown in FIG. 10, when the lock arm 10 is properly fitted after reaching the inner surface of the
The locking ridge 15 is locked to the rear surface of the abutting portion 19, so that the locking ridge 15 is locked in a retaining state. Thus, the lock arm 1
When 0 is restored to the original shape, the pressing force of the short-circuit terminal 11 against the pressed portion 24 is removed, so that the elastic contact piece 22 is also restored and deformed, and is pressed against the receiving plate 27 with the corresponding detection terminal 3a interposed therebetween. Thereby, both detection terminals 3a are connected to the short-circuit terminal 11
And it is possible to electrically detect that the female housing 2 is properly fitted. When the two housings 1 and 2 are removed due to maintenance or the like, the stopper 31a is inserted into the enlarged diameter portion 3 of the insertion hole 35.
By being locked to 5a, it is stopped and placed in the female housing 2.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the fitting state of the connector can be easily and accurately detected by visually checking whether or not the detection pin 31 is retracted into the female housing 2. . Therefore, for example, it is possible to easily detect even in the middle of an assembly line that does not include an electrical inspection device. When the connector is properly fitted, the detection pin 31 is retracted into the female housing 2, so that when the connector is subsequently installed at a predetermined mounting place, there is no possibility of interference with other members. .

<Second Embodiment> FIGS. 11 to 13 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the first
The mechanical fitting detection mechanism described in the embodiment is provided with an electrical detection function. for that reason,
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a short-circuit plate 45 made of a conductive material is stretched at the tip of a stopper plate 33 connected to the detection pin 31 described above. On the other hand, in the male housing 1, a pair of detection terminals 3b are arranged so as to face a portion of the back surface where the short-circuit plate 45 abuts. Therefore, the short-circuit terminal 11 shown in the first embodiment
And other electrical sensing means are eliminated. Other structures are first
Since the configuration is the same as that of the embodiment, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description will be omitted.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the female housing 2 is properly fitted to the male housing 1, the tip of the detection pin 31 can be visually detected by being pulled into the female housing 2. At the same time, as shown in FIG.
5 comes in contact with the ends of the two detection terminals 3b on the male housing 1 side, the two detection terminals 3b are short-circuited via the short-circuit plate 45, and electrical fitting detection is performed. That is, since the electrical detection mechanism is provided in addition to the mechanical fitting detection portion, the structure of the connector can be simplified.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the second embodiment, an electrical switch is formed by providing a short-circuit plate on the detection pin itself and bringing it into and out of contact with the detection terminal. However, a fixed contact and a movable contact are formed in the housing. When the detection pin moves to a predetermined position, an electric switch may be provided that presses the movable contact to switch the state of contact or separation with the fixed contact.

(2) Contrary to the above embodiment, the structure may be such that the detection pin is always locked in the retracted state, and the detection pin is advanced when both housings are properly fitted. (3) The detection pins may be provided on the male connector side. (4) Further, the present invention is not limited to the PCB connector shown in the above embodiment, and can be widely applied to other connectors in general.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a state where the connector is properly fitted.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the male and female housings before fitting.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state before the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view in a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing the structure of an electrical fitting detection portion.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state before the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view in a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view of a male and female housing according to a second embodiment of the present invention before fitting.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Male connector housing 2 ... Female connector housing 2a ... Back plate 31 ... Detection pin 35 ... Insertion hole 37 ... Compression coil spring 39 ... Locking arm 42 ... Release arm 45 ... Short circuit plate 3a ... Detection terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/64-13/645

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector housing having one of a pair of connector housings to be fitted with each other , having a protruding position protruding from the surface on a surface which can be viewed from the outside when both connector housings are fitted. and sensing member movable between a retracted position retracted to the side, the biasing force always biasing means, a detection member that moves urging either one of position side of the two positions the sensing member Locking means for locking at the other position against the other connector and the other connector
The housing, the latch release means to release the locking of the locking means when the two connector housings is fitted to the normal
Is provided. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said detecting member is always locked at the advanced position, and moves to the retracted position when both connector housings are properly fitted. connector. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a fixed contact provided in the vicinity of a movement area of the detection member; and a movable contact which comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact in response to the movement of the detection member. Or the connector according to claim 2.