JP2003036943A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely make a short terminal elastically bend. SOLUTION: In a coupling process of both housings 10 and 30, a taper surface 38 of a pressing part 37 abuts on an receptacle piece 20 of a short terminal 15, the short terminal 15 is made to carry out elastic bending by the inclination of the pressing part 37, and the short circuit of mutual metallic parts 13 of the male terminal is canceled by the separating of the short terminal 15 from the metal parts 13 of the male terminal. Since the inclination-like guide means for making the short terminal 15, which is bend elastically, is provided as a taper surface 38 in the pressing part 37, which cannot deform easily, the pressing part 37 does not lose its guide function but surely bends the short terminal 15 elastically, even if a catch arises in the contact portion of the pressing part 37 and the short terminal 15.

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 short terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a connector having a short terminal, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-176522. This is a female-sided housing that is provided with a plurality of female terminal fittings and a short-circuited terminal among the male and female housings that can be fitted to each other, and when the male-side housing is not fitted to the female-side housing, The terminal contact portion of the short terminal contacts the plurality of female terminal fittings, and the female terminal fittings are short-circuited. The short terminal is formed with a terminal contact portion that abuts the female terminal fitting in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of both housings, and a receiving piece located in front of the terminal contact portion. The receiving piece is configured to extend in an oblique direction with respect to the fitting direction of both housings, and when the male housing is fitted, the pushing portion provided on the male housing is inserted into the receiving piece during fitting. Abut
Due to the inclination of the receiving piece, the short terminal is elastically bent in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of both housings. The elastic contact of the short terminal causes the terminal contact portion to separate from the female terminal fitting, and the short circuit between the female terminal fittings is released.

[0003]

As described above, a receiving piece is provided on a relatively easily deformable short terminal as guide means that is inclined with respect to the fitting direction of both housings to elastically bend the short terminal. In the above-mentioned conventional connector, when a catch occurs between the pushing portion and the receiving piece, there is a concern that the receiving piece may be illegally deformed and lose the guide function. If this happens, the short terminal does not elastically bend in the original direction, that is, in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of both housings, and, for example, an unauthorized deformation such as buckling in the fitting direction of both housings is caused. As a result, the female terminal fitting may not be released from the short circuit, and the short terminal may become unusable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reliably elastically bend a short terminal.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a pair of connector housings that can be fitted to each other, a plurality of terminal fittings provided on one of the connector housings, and one connector housing are provided. , Always contacting the plurality of terminal fittings to bring the plurality of terminal fittings into a short-circuited state, and elastically bending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings. A short terminal which is separated from the terminal fitting and releases the short circuit between the terminal fittings, and a short terminal which is provided on the other connector housing and abuts the short terminal during the fitting process of the pair of connector housings. A connector comprising a pushing portion that elastically bends in a direction of separating from the terminal fitting, wherein the pushing portion includes the pair of connectors. It has a configuration which is a diagonal direction of the tapered surface relative to the direction of fitting Ujingu.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the other connector housing is formed with a pressing surface continuous with the pressing portion and parallel to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings. In the state where the pair of connector housings are fitted together, the displacement in the direction of approaching the terminal fitting is restricted by the short-circuit terminal coming into contact with the pressing surface. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the tip of the short terminal is oblique to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings, and the fitting of the pair of connector housings is performed. In the joining process, the receiving piece which can be slidably contacted with the tapered surface of the pushing portion is formed.

[0007]

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention] [Invention 1] An inclined guide means for elastically bending the short terminal in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of both connector housings,
The taper surface is provided on the pushing portion of the other connector housing, which is not easily deformed, rather than the short terminal which is relatively elastically displaced. Therefore, even if a catch occurs at the contact portion between the pushing portion and the short terminal, the guide function of the tapered surface of the pushing portion is not lost, and the pushing portion ensures elastic deformation of the short terminal. To do.

[Invention of Claim 2] With the two connector housings fitted together, the short-circuiting terminal abuts on the surface of the both connector housings in a direction oblique to the fitting direction, thereby restricting access to the terminal fittings. In the case of the structure described above, when there is variation in the fitting depth of both connector housings, the amount of elastic deformation of the short terminals also varies, and as a result, there is a gap between the short terminals and the terminal fittings. The distance will not be constant. On the other hand, in the present invention, as a means for restricting the approach of the short terminal to the terminal fitting, a pressing surface parallel to the fitting direction of both connector housings is provided, and the short terminal is brought into contact with the pressing surface.
Even if the fitting depths of both connector housings vary, the elastic deformation amount of the short terminal becomes constant, and the separation distance between the short terminal and the terminal fitting also becomes constant.

[Invention of Claim 3] Both the taper surface of the pushing portion and the receiving piece of the short terminal, which come into contact with each other when the short terminal elastically bends, are oblique to the fitting direction of both connector housings. Therefore, the two can smoothly slide without being caught, and therefore the elastic bending of the short terminal can be smoothly performed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The connector of this embodiment includes a male housing 10 (one connector housing which is a constituent of the present invention) and a female housing 30 (the other connector housing which is a constituent of the present invention) which can be fitted to each other. ) And. In the following description, both housings 10, 30
The side of the fitting surface in will be described as the front. The male housing 10 is made of synthetic resin, and has a housing body 11 and
The housing main body 11 includes a hood portion 12 having a substantially rectangular tube shape that protrudes forward. The housing body 11 is provided with a plurality of male terminal fittings 13 (terminal fittings that are a constituent feature of the present invention) in parallel at the same height, and the tip of the male terminal fitting 13 projects into the hood portion 12. Has been done.
The female housing 30 is fitted in the hood portion 12.

A housing space 14 is formed in the housing body 11 and opens at the rear end surface of the hood portion 12, and a short terminal 15 is fixed in the housing space 14. The short terminal 15 includes a plate-shaped main body 16 and four elastic contact pieces 17 folded back from the rear end of the main body 16 toward the front.
And is fixed so that the main body 16 is brought into close contact with the bottom surface of the accommodation space 14. Elastic contact piece 17
Is a chevron-shaped terminal contact portion 18, an extension portion 19 that extends further forward from the front end of the terminal contact portion 18, and the extension portion 19.
And a receiving piece 20 that extends obliquely downward and forward (oblique direction with respect to the fitting direction of the two housings 10 and 30) from the front end thereof. The receiving piece 20 is arranged at a position projecting from the inner end surface of the hood portion 12 into the hood portion 12.

An exposed space 21 for exposing the lower surface of the male terminal fitting 13 to the housing space 14 is formed in the housing body 11, and the terminal contact portion 18 of the short terminal 15 corresponds to the exposed space 21. positioned. When the female housing 30 is not fitted, the terminal contact portion 18 of the short terminal 15 contacts the lower surface of the male terminal fitting 13 in the exposed space 21, and the elastic restoring force of the short terminal 15 ensures a predetermined contact pressure. . As a result, the four male terminal fittings 13 are short-circuited via the short terminals 15. When the female housing 30 is fitted,
As will be described later, the short terminal 15 is elastically bent so that the terminal contact portion 18 is separated downward from the male terminal fitting 13,
The short circuit between the male terminal fittings 13 is released. At this time, the elastic bending direction (displacement direction) of the short-circuit terminal 15 and the terminal contact portion 18 is such that both housings 10 and 30.
Is substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction (downward in FIGS. 1 to 4).

The female housing 30 is formed of a synthetic resin in a substantially block shape, and four cavities 31 are formed in parallel inside the female housing 30. Each cavity 3
In the inside of 1, there is a female terminal fitting 33 connected to the end of the electric wire 32.
Is inserted from the rear and is retained by the retainer 34 in a retaining state. The female terminal fittings 33 are both housings 1
When 0 and 30 are fitted, they are connected to the male terminal fitting 13. At the front end portion of the lower surface of the female housing 30, a recess 35 is formed in the form of a cutout parallel to the fitting direction of the two housings 10, 30 so as to open to the front end surface of the female housing 30. The side housing 30 to the hood portion 1
2 when it is fitted in, the pressing surface 3 which is the ceiling of the recess 35
6 and the inner wall surface of the hood portion 12 between the short terminals 15
A space for allowing the extending portion 19 and the rear end portion of the receiving piece 20 (= the connecting portion of the receiving piece 20 with the extending portion 19) to enter is secured. The pressing surface 36 of the recess 35 is a flat surface parallel to the fitting direction of the housings 10 and 30, and when the housings 10 and 30 are fitted to each other, the short terminal 15 is pressed against the pressing surface 36. By contacting with each other, the displacement of the short terminal 15 in the direction approaching the male terminal fitting 13 (substantially upward direction) is restricted.

Further, at the front end portion of the female side housing 30,
A pressing portion 37 is formed so as to be continuous with the front end of the pressing surface 36 of the recess 35. The pushing portion 37 includes both housings 10 and 3.
It has a taper surface 38 which is oblique to the fitting direction of 0 and has the same inclination as the inclination direction of the receiving piece 20 of the short terminal 15. The tapered surface 38 is set to a height corresponding to the four receiving pieces 20 in the state where the short terminal 15 is in contact with the male terminal fitting 13.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the housings 10 and 30 are separated from each other, the terminal contact portion 18 of the short terminal 15 contacts the male terminal fitting 13 and the male terminal fittings 13 are held in a short-circuited state.
There is no potential difference between the male terminal fittings 13. Further, the receiving piece 20 of the short-circuit terminal 15 is the same as the housing 1
It is located inside the hood portion 12 in a state in which it is oriented obliquely to the fitting direction of 0 and 30 (see FIG. 1).

When the female housing 30 is fitted into the hood portion 12 from this state, as shown in FIG.
The tapered surface 38 of the pushing portion 37 of the female housing 30 contacts the receiving piece 20. Then, when the fitting of the two housings 10 and 30 is further advanced from this state, the inclination of the receiving piece 20 and the inclination of the taper surface 38 of the pushing portion 37 cause both of the two 20,
The pushing portion 37 displaces the receiving piece 20 downward while 37 (38) is in sliding contact. As the receiving piece 20 is pushed downward, the displacement of the receiving piece 20 is transmitted to the terminal contact portion 18 via the extension portion 19, and the short terminal 15 moves the terminal contact portion 18 downward (both housings 10). , 30 are elastically bent so as to be displaced in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction. When the housings 10 and 30 reach the normal fitting state, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the terminal contact portion 18
Is separated from the male terminal fitting 13 and the short circuit between the male terminal fittings 13 is released.

On the other hand, in the short terminal 15 elastically bent downward by the pushing portion 37, when the receiving piece 20 comes off the lower edge of the tapered surface 38 of the pushing portion 37, the amount of elastic bending becomes maximum, The height of the terminal contact portion 18 and the receiving piece 20 is the lowest. Then, the receiving piece 20 is pushed by the pushing portion 37.
After being removed from the tapered surface 38, the receiving piece 20 enters the recess 35 in the lower surface of the female housing 30, and thereafter, the receiving piece 20 remains in the recess 35 until the fitting of the two housings 10, 30 is completed. It is kept at a constant height by being pressed down from above by the pressing surface 36. At this time, the extending portion 19 of the short-circuit terminal 15 is substantially horizontal and is substantially in surface contact with the pressing surface 36.

In the process of pulling out the female housing 30 from the hood portion 12, when the pushing portion 37 comes off the receiving piece 20, the short terminal 15 elastically restores the terminal contact portion 18 to the male terminal metal fitting 13. It elastically returns upward so as to come into contact with. As described above, in this embodiment,
An inclined guide means for elastically bending the short terminal 15 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of the housings 10 and 30 is provided as a tapered surface 38 on the pushing portion 37 of the female housing 30 which is difficult to deform. Provided. Therefore, even if a catch occurs at the contact portion between the pushing portion 37 and the short terminal 15, the guide function of the tapered surface 38 of the pushing portion 37 is not lost, and the pushing portion 37 prevents the short terminal. It is possible to reliably elastically bend 15 in the direction away from the male terminal fitting 13.

Further, in the case where the short-circuit terminal is in contact with the surface of the housing in an oblique direction with respect to the fitting direction in the state where both housings are fitted, the approach to the terminal fitting is restricted. When the fitting depths of the two housings vary, the amount of elastic deformation of the short terminal also varies, and as a result, the distance between the short terminal and the terminal fitting is not constant. On the other hand, in this embodiment, as a means for restricting the approach of the short terminal 15 to the male terminal fitting 13, a pressing surface 36 parallel to the fitting direction of the housings 10 and 30 is provided, and the pressing surface 3 is provided.
Since the short terminal 15 is abutted on the connector 6, even if the fitting depths of the housings 10 and 30 vary, the amount of elastic deformation of the short terminal 15 becomes constant, and the short terminal 15 and the terminal metal fitting are separated from each other. The distance between them (air insulation distance) is also constant.

The taper surface 38 of the pushing portion 37, which comes into contact when the short terminal 15 elastically bends, and the short terminal 1.
5 and the receiving piece 20 of FIG. 5 are both oblique with respect to the fitting direction of the housings 10 and 30, so that they can slide smoothly without getting caught,
Therefore, the elastic bending of the short terminal 15 is smoothly performed. [Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
Further, other than the following, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the terminal fitting and the short terminal are provided in the male housing and the pushing portion is provided in the female housing. However, according to the present invention, the terminal fitting and the short terminal are provided in the female housing. In addition to being provided, the pushing portion may be provided in the male housing. (2) In the above embodiment, the short terminal is provided with the diagonal receiving piece, but according to the present invention, the receiving piece may not be provided. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the pressing surface is formed on the female side housing. However, according to the present invention, the pressing surface is not formed, and even when both connector housings are fitted, the short terminal has a tapered surface as a pressing portion. You may make it restrict | limit the approach to a terminal metal fitting by contacting with.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which fitting of both housings is started in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which both housings are fitted together.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the pushing portion abuts on the short-circuiting terminal during the fitting of both housings.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a state where both housings are fitted together.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the male housing.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a female housing.

[Explanation of symbols] 10 ... Male side housing (one connector housing) 13 ... Male terminal fitting (terminal fitting) 15 ... Short terminal 20 ... Receiving piece 30 ... Female side housing (other connector housing) 36 ... Pressing surface 37 ... Pusher 38 ... Tapered surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of connector housings that can be fitted to each other, a plurality of terminal fittings provided on one of the connector housings, a connector housing provided on the one connector housing, and always contact the plurality of terminal fittings. By doing so, the plurality of terminal fittings are short-circuited with each other, and the terminals are separated from the plurality of terminal fittings by elastically bending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings. A short terminal for releasing a short circuit and a pusher provided on the other connector housing for abutting against the short terminal during the fitting process of the pair of connector housings to elastically bend the short terminal away from the terminal fitting. A connector having a moving part, wherein the pushing part is inclined with respect to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings. Connector, characterized in that there is a direction of the tapered surface. 2. The other connector housing is formed with a pressing surface which is continuous with the pushing portion and is parallel to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings, and in a state where the pair of connector housings are fitted together. The connector according to claim 1, wherein displacement of the short-circuiting terminal in a direction approaching the terminal fitting is restricted by contacting the pressing surface. 3. The tip of the short-circuited terminal is inclined with respect to the fitting direction of the pair of connector housings, and slidably contacts the tapered surface of the pushing portion in the fitting process of the pair of connector housings. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a possible receiving piece is formed.