JP4832241B2 - Connector protection structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector protection structure, and more particularly, to a connector protection structure for protecting a terminal fitting portion of a connector in which a lock arm that locks a mating connector fitting portion projects from an outer peripheral wall of a housing. Is.

  Conventionally, a connector used for a wire harness for a vehicle is a terminal fitting portion formed at the front end of a terminal accommodating chamber during storage or transportation before fitting with a mating connector fitting portion. Dust may enter through the opening and cause contact failure. In addition, a connector in which a lock arm that locks the mating connector fitting part protrudes from the outer peripheral wall of the housing is exposed to the outside due to the lock arm being exposed to the outside. The lock arm may be plastically deformed or the lock protrusion may be damaged.

  Therefore, a protective cover for connectors shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). A protective cover 1 for a connector as shown in FIG. 7 is attached to the terminal fitting portion 2a of the connector 2 in a crown so as to protect the lock arm 7 as well as dust.

  In the connector 2, a lock arm 7 protruding from an outer peripheral wall of a housing 5 that accommodates and accommodates a plurality of terminals 4 with electric wires is connected to the front end side of the terminal fitting portion of the outer peripheral wall and is rearward through a front rising base. An extending flexible arm 7a, an engaging protrusion 7b as an engaging portion formed on the flexible arm 7a, and a finger pad portion 7c formed on the free end side of the flexible arm 7a are provided. The engaging projection 7b is mounted on the mating connector fitting portion or the like by a tilting operation in which the finger contact portion 7c is pushed down to the outer peripheral wall side of the housing as shown by an arrow (C) in FIG. The locking means can be engaged and disengaged.

  In this case, the locking means provided in the connector fitting portion of the mating connector or the electric / electronic device is a concave portion or a stepped portion that can lock the engaging protrusion 7b.

  The connector protective cover 1 has a substantially box-shaped cover main body 8 that is mounted on the front end side of the housing 5 to cover the front end opening of the terminal fitting portion 2a of the connector 2, and the cover main body 8 is attached to the housing. 5 is mounted on the cover body 8 so that it can be engaged with the engaging protrusion 7b when being attached to the crown 5 and can be disengaged from the engaging protrusion 7b by tilting the flexible arm 7a. It is the structure which comprised the latching means 9 for a connection.

  The connecting locking means 9 has the same structure as the locking means provided in the mating connector to be connected to the connector 2 or a connector fitting portion of an electric / electronic device, etc. When the amount of insertion of the housing 5 reaches a specified amount, it is configured as an engagement groove into which the engagement protrusion 7b is inserted.

  When the connector protective cover 1 is properly fitted on the front end side of the housing 5, the engagement protrusion 7 b on the lock arm 7 of the connector 2 is connected to the connecting protective means for the connector protective cover 1. 9, the connector protective cover 1 is held and fixed to the connector 2, and the tip opening of the terminal fitting portion 2 a of the connector 2 is covered with the connector protective cover 1.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-307168 (FIG. 5)

However, in the connector protective cover 1 as described above, the finger contact portion 7c of the lock arm 7 protrudes outward from the connector protective cover 1, and when other members or the like hit the finger contact portion 7c during storage or the like, When the lock arm 7 is pushed down, the engagement protrusion 7b and the coupling locking means 9 are disengaged, and the connector protective cover 1 may be detached.
Further, in order to remove the protective cover, it is necessary to press down the finger pad portion of the lock arm, and it is not easy to remove the protective cover.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problem, and to provide a connector protection structure that can reliably prevent the protective cover from being accidentally detached from the connector and can easily remove the protective cover from the connector. It is to provide.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configurations.
(1) A connector for protecting the terminal fitting portion by attaching a protective cover to the terminal fitting portion of the connector in which a lock arm for locking the mating connector fitting portion projects from the outer peripheral wall of the housing. A protective structure,
The connector has lock arm protection ribs erected on the outer peripheral surface of the housing on both sides of the lock arm;
The protective cover has a shape that surrounds the lock arm and is mounted on the terminal fitting portion by being crowned, and has a connector locking portion including a flexible arm that locks the lock arm protection rib. Connector protection structure.

(2) The connector protection structure according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover has a connector conduction confirmation window.

(3) The connector protection structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective cover has a finger contact portion.

(4) A spacer mounting portion is provided on a side surface of the connector so that a spacer that keeps a separated state of a plurality of accommodated terminals is flush with the connector side surface, and the protective cover is fitted to the terminal The connector protection structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spacer is temporarily attached to the spacer attachment portion so as to protrude from a side surface of the connector before being attached to the crown.

  According to the configuration of (1), since the protective cover surrounds the lock arm and is attached to the terminal fitting portion by being crowned, the lock arm does not contact an external part or the like when the protective cover is attached. It is possible to prevent the protective cover from being removed by an unexpected operation.

  Also, since the flexible arm of the protective cover locks the lock arm protective rib of the connector, when removing the protective cover from the connector, it is only necessary to pull the protective cover from the connector against the locking force. The protective cover can be removed with a simple operation.

  According to the configuration of (2), since the protective cover has the connector continuity confirmation window, the continuity test of the connector can be performed even when the protective cover is mounted on the connector in a crown, and the continuity state can be confirmed. it can.

  According to the configuration of (3), since the protective cover has the finger contact portion, when removing the protective cover from the connector, the protective cover can be pinched securely by placing the finger on the finger contact portion. It can be easily removed.

  According to the configuration of (4), when the spacer is temporarily attached to the connector, the protective cover cannot be completely attached because it protrudes from the connector side surface, and the spacer is not properly attached. I understand. If the spacer is not properly attached to the side surface of the connector, the protective cover is not properly attached to the crown, so that it is possible to prevent a human error such as forgetting to attach the spacer.

  According to the present invention, since the lock arm does not come into contact with an external part or the like, the protective cover does not come off due to unexpected operation of the lock arm, and the protective cover can be removed from the connector with a simpler operation.

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

  1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector and a protective cover constituting a connector protection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a connector with a protective cover mounted thereon, and FIG. 3 is a protective cover mounted with a crown. 4 is a rear view of the connector with the protective cover mounted on the crown as viewed from the wire drawing side, FIG. 5 is a side view of the connector with the protective cover mounted on the crown, and FIG. 6 is a horizontal view of the flexible arm. It is sectional drawing.

  The connector 20 accommodates two terminals (not shown) connected to an electric wire 21 in a connector housing 22, and a mating connector or a connector fitting portion of an electrical component is fitted to a terminal fitting portion 24 on the front surface. The On the upper part of the connector housing 22, there is provided a lock arm 26 that is locked to a mating connector or a connector fitting portion of an electrical component to lock the fitting state.

  The lock arm 26 includes a flexible arm 30 that extends rearward through a front rising base 28 on the front end side of the terminal fitting portion on the outer peripheral wall of the connector housing 22, and an engagement portion formed on the flexible arm 30. An engaging protrusion 32 and a finger pad 34 formed on the free end side of the flexible arm 30 are provided. The engaging projection 32 can be engaged with or disengaged from the engaging means provided on the mating connector fitting portion or the like by pressing the finger contact portion 34 toward the outer peripheral wall of the housing.

  A pair of lock arm protection ribs 36 are formed on both sides of the finger contact portion 34 of the lock arm 26 so as to stand up from the rear side of the outer peripheral wall to protect the finger contact portion 34 from coming into contact with an external part or the like. Has been. The height of the lock arm protection rib 36 is set to be higher than the position of the finger contact portion 34 of the lock arm 26.

  The protective cover 40 made of plastic resin has a hollow prism shape that encloses and accommodates almost the entire connector 20, and two pairs of flexible covers corresponding to the lock arm protection ribs 36 of the connector 20 are provided on the connector crown mounting side. Arms 42 and 43 are provided. The flexible arms 42 and 43 are cantilevered from the protective cover side wall 44 in the connector direction, and the upper flexible arm 42 is provided with locking projections 46 (see FIGS. 4 and 6) facing each other on the inner side of the distal end portion. It has been.

  The interval W1 between the opposing locking projections 46 is set to be slightly narrower than the outer width W2 of the opposing locking arm protection rib 36, and the locking arm protection rib 36 is locked by getting over the locking projection 46, The crowning of the protective cover 40 to the connector 20 is completed. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the locking projection 46 is formed in a triangular shape so that the lock arm protection rib 36 can easily get over the locking projection 46, and the connector side and the non-connector side are tapered surfaces. Is formed.

  The locking projection 46 may have a curved cross section as shown in FIG. Further, the inside of the tip end portion of the locking projection 46 is a curved surface so that the lock arm protection rib 36 can be easily introduced.

  In the present embodiment, the locking projection 46 is provided only on the upper flexible arm 42 of the two pairs of flexible arms 42 and 43, but the locking projection is also provided on the lower flexible arm 43. It may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, two pairs of flexible arms 42 and 43 are provided, but the number of flexible arms may be one or three or more. Further, the flexible arm may be provided only on one side of the protective cover, and the lock arm protection rib may be locked only on one side.

  To remove the protective cover 40 from the connector 20, the protective cover 40 may be pulled in the direction opposite to the crown mounting direction. Since only the locking projection 46 of the flexible arm 42 is engaged with the lock arm protection rib 36 of the connector 20 in the protective cover 40, the force of the rear end of the lock arm protection rib 36 gets over the locking projection 46. The protective cover 40 can be easily removed by pulling.

  A pair of finger pads 48 are provided on the side of the protective cover 40 opposite to the connector. In the present embodiment, the finger contact portion 48 is formed in a stepped shape having a plurality of steps, but the finger contact portion 48 may be formed as a simple protrusion having one step.

  By providing the finger contact portion 48 in this way, when removing the protective cover 40 from the connector 20, the protective cover 40 can be securely pinched by placing the finger on the finger contact portion 48. It can be easily removed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a spacer mounting portion 52 is formed on one side surface of the connector 20. The spacer mounting portion 52 includes an opening portion into which a spacer 50 that keeps a plurality of terminals separated from each other. The spacer 50 is temporarily mounted on the spacer mounting portion 52 of the connector 20 before the protective cover 40 is mounted on the crown.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the spacer 50 protrudes from the side surface 54 of the connector 20 in the temporarily mounted state. In this state, the protective cover 40 cannot be completely mounted. When the terminal is inserted into the connector 20 in the temporarily mounted state of the spacer 50 and the accommodation of the terminal is completed, the spacer 50 is pushed in so as to be flush with the side surface 54 of the connector 20 and is finally mounted.

  Thus, when the spacer 50 is temporarily attached, the spacer 50 becomes an obstacle and the protective cover 40 cannot be completely attached. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the human error of forgetting to attach the spacer 50 without forgetting to attach the spacer 50 and attaching the protective cover 40 to the crown.

  Further, a connector conduction confirmation window 56 that is an opening for exposing the terminal fitting portion 24 of the connector 20 to the outside is formed on the side of the protective cover 40 opposite to the connector. As shown in FIG. 2, when the protective cover 40 is attached to the connector 20 with the crown, the terminal fitting portion 24 of the connector 20 is exposed to the outside from the connector conduction confirmation window 56. Therefore, even when the protective cover 40 is mounted on the crown, the probe of the continuity tester can be brought into contact with each terminal of the terminal fitting portion 24 via the connector continuity confirmation window 56, and the terminal continuity test is easy.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the connector and protective cover which comprise the connector protective structure which is embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a connector with a protective cover mounted thereon. FIG. 6 is a side view of a connector with a protective cover mounted thereon. It is the rear view seen from the electric wire drawer side of the connector which attached the protective cover to the crown. It is a side view of the connector in the middle of wearing a protective cover with a crown. It is a cross-sectional view of a flexible arm. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional connector protection structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Protective cover 2 Connector 7 Lock arm 7a Flexible arm 7b Locking protrusion 7c Fingering part 9 Connecting locking means 20 Connector 22 Housing 24 Terminal fitting part 26 Lock arm 30 Flexible arm 32 Engaging protrusion 34 Fingering Part 36 lock arm protection rib 40 protective cover 42 flexible arm 46 locking projection 48 finger pad part 50 spacer 52 spacer mounting part 56 connector conduction confirmation window

Claims (4)

A connector protection structure for protecting the terminal fitting portion by attaching a protective cover to the terminal fitting portion of the connector in which the lock arm for locking the mating connector fitting portion protrudes from the outer peripheral wall of the housing. There,
The connector has lock arm protection ribs erected on the outer peripheral surface of the housing on both sides of the lock arm;
The protective cover has a shape that surrounds the lock arm and is mounted on the terminal fitting portion by being crowned, and has a connector locking portion including a flexible arm that locks the lock arm protection rib. Connector protection structure.   The connector protection structure according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover has a connector conduction confirmation window.   The connector protection structure according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover has a finger contact portion.   A spacer mounting portion is provided on a side surface of the connector so that a spacer that keeps a separated state of the plurality of accommodated terminals is flush with the connector side surface, and the protective cover is covered with the terminal fitting portion. The connector protection structure according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is temporarily attached to the spacer attachment portion so as to protrude from the side surface of the connector before being crowned.

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