JP2016062670A - Connector module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow for smooth mounting work of a module, while avoiding increase in the size of a connector.SOLUTION: A connector module includes a module 10 having a connector 30 provided with a plurality of terminal housing sections 32 side by side, and a holding section 11 capable of housing and holding the connector 30, and an other party module 60 attached to the module 10, and provided with a plurality of connector fitting parts 62 that can be fitted collectively with respective terminal housing sections 32. The holding section 11 is provided with an elastic portion 18 for aligning the connector 30 so as to be displaceable in the arrangement direction of the terminal housing sections 32, and in a manner capable of regulating displacement in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction and fitting direction to the connector fitting parts 62.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector module.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a connector module in which a module having a connector capable of accommodating a terminal fitting for detecting the state (voltage, temperature, etc.) of a cell is attached to a counterpart module configured by arranging a plurality of cells. ing.

  As this type of connector module, Patent Document 1 discloses a connector for collectively connecting terminals of each device to a laminated body in which a plurality of devices are stacked in the arrangement direction. The connector includes a terminal main body portion having a plurality of independent fitting portions for connecting to each terminal of the device, a terminal holding portion that supports and integrates the terminal main body portion, and the fitting portion and the terminal holding portion. And a connecting portion formed as a tolerance absorbing portion capable of absorbing tolerance due to stacking of devices by elastic force.

JP 2012-221875 A

  By the way, in such a configuration in which a plurality of devices are stacked, tolerances are stacked in the arrangement direction of the devices, so that the relative positions of the devices and the connectors are likely to be displaced, which may make it difficult to connect the connectors. . In view of this, there is a case where a guide that expands in a trumpet shape is provided in the fitting portion of the connector so as to invite the device side. However, if a large lead-in is provided in consideration of the maximum tolerance, the connector becomes large, and in the worst case, it exceeds the allowable dimension on the mating device side and may hinder the fitting operation. In that respect, according to the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the fitting portion of the connector is aligned with respect to the device side by the tolerance absorbing portion, the relative position between each device and the fitting portion can be adjusted. Can be small. However, in the case of Patent Document 1, a space for allowing the swinging of the fitting portion must be ensured substantially in all directions, so that the increase in size of the connector can be sufficiently avoided. There is a circumstance that cannot be done.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector module that can smoothly perform module mounting work while avoiding an increase in size of the connector. .

  The connector module of the present invention includes a connector provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating portions that can accommodate terminal fittings, a module having a holding portion that can accommodate and hold the connector, and a plurality of terminal accommodating portions that are attached to the module. And a mating module provided with a plurality of connector fitting parts that can be fitted together with the terminal accommodating part, and the connector can be displaced in the arrangement direction of the terminal accommodating part in the holding part. And the elastic part which aligns is provided in the direction orthogonal to the said alignment direction and the fitting direction to the said connector fitting part so that a displacement control is possible.

  By aligning the connector with the elastic portion, each terminal accommodating portion is adjusted to a position where it can be fitted with the corresponding connector fitting portion in a normal state. As a result, it is possible to reduce the conventional invitation that is provided to invite the connector fitting portion to the connector.

  In addition, since tolerances are stacked in the direction in which the connector fitting portions are arranged, each terminal accommodating portion and each connector fitting portion are likely to be misaligned in the arrangement direction. Since it can be displaced in the direction of alignment by the elastic portion, it is possible to absorb the positional deviation and to smoothly perform the fitting operation between each terminal accommodating portion and each connector fitting portion. On the other hand, since tolerances do not accumulate in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the connector fitting portions are arranged, there is no need to consider the positional deviation in the same direction. For this reason, in this structure, it is possible to restrict the displacement operation of the connector in the direction orthogonal to the alignment direction and the fitting direction by the elastic portion, thereby avoiding the connector from becoming unnecessarily large. It is like that.

In the Example of this invention, it is sectional drawing which shows the state by which the connector was centered by the elastic part and was hold | maintained at the connector holding part of the module. Similarly, it is a rear view. It is a rear view of the connector holding part of a module. It is a perspective view of a connector. It is a front view of the connector part of the other party module.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The elastic portion is configured to protrude in pairs on both inner surfaces facing in the arrangement direction of the holding portion, and the connector is inserted into the holding portion on both side surfaces in the arrangement direction of the connector. The elastic portion is fitted, and a guide groove is provided for guiding the connector so that displacement can be restricted in a direction orthogonal to the alignment direction and the fitting direction. Since the insertion portion of the connector is corrected by fitting the elastic portion into the guide groove of the connector, the connector can be smoothly inserted into the holding portion. Further, since the elastic portion is used as the guide structure of the connector, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated guide structure other than the elastic portion in the holding portion, and the configuration of the holding portion can be simplified.

<Example>
This embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector module of the present embodiment includes a mating module 60 as a battery module mounted on an unillustrated electric vehicle or hybrid car, and a module 10 as a wiring module attached to the mating module 60. In the following description, the width direction is the X-axis direction in FIGS. 1 to 3, the front-rear direction is the Y-axis direction in FIG. 1, and the vertical direction is Z in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. Axial direction. Moreover, about the front-back direction, let the surface side which the module 10 and the other party module 60 mutually face at the time of an attachment start be a front side.

  Although not shown in detail, the counterpart module 60 has a single battery group in which four directly connected single batteries are stacked in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the mating module 60 has a connector portion 61 made of a synthetic resin between a positive electrode and a negative electrode of a unit cell (not shown).

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the connector portion 61 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the width direction, and includes four connector fitting portions 62 that are arranged in parallel in the width direction. The connector fitting portion 62 has a hood shape that opens forward. The connector fitting portions 62 adjacent to each other in the width direction are partitioned by a common partition wall 63 along the vertical direction. In each connector fitting portion 62, a male terminal fitting 90 connected to each cell is protruded. In addition, a lock portion (not shown) protrudes from the outer surface of the connector portion 61.

  The module 10 has a holding part 11 made of synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the holding unit 11 includes a bus bar holding unit that holds a bus bar that can be connected to a positive electrode and a negative electrode of a unit cell that are adjacent to each other in the width direction through bolts. Connector holding part 12 disposed between the bus bar holding parts. The connector holding part 12 has a plurality of holding main bodies 13 arranged in parallel in the width direction. The holding body 13 has a rectangular frame shape penetrating in the front-rear direction. The holding bodies 13 adjacent in the width direction are partitioned by a common partition wall 14 along the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a connector 30 is inserted and held in the holding body 13 from the rear. In the holding body 13, a pair of claw-shaped back stoppers 15 are provided so as to protrude at positions close to the squares of the upper and lower walls. It is possible to prevent the connector 30 from coming out backward with respect to the holding body 13 by abutting the rear end portion of the connector 30 (a later-described to-be-latched portion 37 to be described later) with each rear stop portion 15. (See FIG. 2). In the holding main body 13, a horizontally long rib-shaped front stopper 16 is provided between the rear stoppers 15 adjacent to each other in the width direction of the upper and lower walls. As shown in FIG. 3, the front stoppers 16 are alternately arranged on the upper wall and the lower wall in the arrangement direction (width direction) of the holding main bodies 13. The front end portion of the connector 30 (a front stop portion 35 to be described later) abuts on the front stop portion 16 so that the connector 30 can be prevented from slipping forward relative to the holding body 13 (see FIG. 2).

  In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the holding body 13, elastic portions 18 project from the partition walls 14 and the end walls 17 at the end portions in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 1, each elastic portion 18 is configured by a plate-shaped resin spring that integrally protrudes forward from the rear ends of the partition wall 14 and the end wall 17 in a cantilevered manner. Specifically, each elastic portion 18 is configured to be inclined and extend so as to enter the holding body 13 from the rear ends of the partition wall 14 and the end wall 17 toward the front. It is possible to bend and deform during this period. The elastic portions 18 have the same shape and the same size, and are arranged at the center in the vertical direction of the partition wall 14 and the end wall 17 as shown in FIG.

  As will be described later, the width of the holding body 13 allows the connector 30 to be displaced in the width of the connector 30 so that the connector 30 can be displaced in the width direction within the bending range of each elastic portion 18. It is set to a value with clearance added. On the other hand, the vertical dimension in the holding body 13 is set to substantially the same value as the vertical dimension of the connector 30 so that the displacement of the connector 30 is restricted in the vertical direction, as will be described later.

  Next, the connector 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the connector 30 includes a synthetic resin housing portion 31 and a plurality of synthetic resin terminal housing portions 32 that are accommodated relative to the housing portion 31. The housing portion 31 has a case shape that constitutes an outer wall portion of the connector 30. Of the upper and lower walls of the housing portion 31, a lock arm 33 and a protective wall 34 protrude from one side, and a front-stopped portion 35 protrudes from the other side.

  The lock arm 33 can be bent and deformed, and has a lock hole 36 penetrating in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. Here, the connector 30 can be fitted to the connector portion 61 of the counterpart module 60 as the module 10 is attached. When the connector 30 is properly fitted to the connector portion 61, the lock portion is fitted into the lock hole 36, and the lock arm 33 is elastically locked to the lock portion. As a result, the connector 30 is held in the connector portion 61 in a fitted state. As shown in FIG. 4, the protective wall 34 is disposed so as to cover both sides of the lock arm 33 in the width direction and the front, and has a role of protecting the lock arm 33 from the surroundings.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the to-be-stopped portion 35 is formed in a horizontally long rib shape at the rear end portion of the upper and lower walls of the housing portion 31. In a state where the connector 30 is normally inserted into the holding body 13 of the connector holding portion 12, the advancement of the connector 30 is restricted by the front stop portion 35 coming into contact with the rear surface of the front stop portion 16. (See FIG. 2).

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a back stop portion 37 projects from the upper and lower walls of the housing portion 31. The to-be-retained portion 37 has a rib shape extending in the width direction at the front end portion of the housing portion 31. In a state where the connector 30 is normally inserted into the holding body 13 of the connector holding portion 12, the back stop portion 37 comes into contact with the front surface of the back stopping portion 15, so that the backward movement of the connector 30 is regulated. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a guide groove 38 extending in the front-rear direction is provided at the center in the vertical direction on both side surfaces of the housing portion 31. The guide groove 38 has a belt groove shape with a constant width in the up-down direction and is configured to penetrate in the front-rear direction. The back surface portion 39 of the guide groove 38 is configured as a flat surface that is flush with the front end side of the side surface in the width direction of the housing portion 31. As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical dimension of the guide groove 38 is the same as the vertical dimension of the elastic part 18 or slightly larger than the vertical dimension of the elastic part 18. When the connector 30 is inserted into the holding main body 13 of the connector holding portion 12, the elastic portion 18 is inserted into the guide groove 38 in a substantially positioned state in the vertical direction (see FIG. 2), and is inserted into the back surface portion 39 of the guide groove 38. The front end portion of the elastic portion 18 comes into elastic contact (see FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 1, each terminal accommodating portion 32 has a substantially rectangular tube shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and is arranged in parallel in the width direction so as to correspond to each connector fitting portion 62 of the counterpart module 60. Has been. Each terminal accommodating portion 32 is supported so as to be swingable within a predetermined range with respect to a support portion 41 provided at the rear end portion of the housing portion 31 (see FIG. 4). Further, a terminal fitting 80 is inserted and held in each terminal accommodating portion 32 from the rear.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 80 is a female terminal fitting, and has a box-shaped connection portion 81 and an open barrel-shaped barrel portion 82 coupled to the rear of the connection portion 81. . The barrel part 82 is connected to the terminal part of the electric wire 70 by crimping. The terminal fitting 80 is for detecting the state (voltage, temperature, etc.) of the unit cell, and the male terminal fitting 90 is inserted into the connecting portion 81 in a state where the connector 30 is fitted to the connector portion 61. Thus, the connection is made conductive. And the electric wire 70 connected to the barrel part 82 is pulled out from the rear end of the terminal accommodating part 32, and is connected to control units, such as ECU which is not shown in figure.

Next, a method for holding the connector 30 by the connector holding portion 12 and a method for fitting the connector portion 61 to the connector 30 will be described.
The connector 30 is inserted into the holding body 13 of the connector holding part 12 from the rear. In the insertion process of the connector 30, both elastic portions 18 (the elastic portions 18 protruding from both sides in the width direction in the holding body 13) are fitted in both guide grooves 38 of the housing portion 31 in a state where displacement in the vertical direction is restricted. Then, both elastic portions 18 are slidably brought into contact with the back surface portions 39 of both guide grooves 38, and both elastic portions 18 are bent and deformed with the base end portion as a fulcrum. Even in a state where the connector 30 is properly inserted into the holding body 13, the state in which both the elastic portions 18 are in contact with the back surface portions 39 of the both guide grooves 38 of the housing portion 31 to be bent and deformed is maintained (FIG. 1).

  Further, in a state where the connector 30 is properly inserted into the holding body 13, the to-be-stopped portion 35 is disposed so as to be in contact with the front-stopping portion 16, and the to-be-stopped portion 37 can be in contact with the back-stopping portion 15. Accordingly, the connector 30 is held by the connector holding portion 12 in a state where movement in the front-rear direction is restricted. As shown in FIG. 2, the connectors 30 are arranged in the holding bodies 13 adjacent in the width direction so that the vertical directions are opposite to each other.

  The connector 30 that is normally inserted into the holding body 13 of the connector holding portion 12 can be displaced in the width direction (the direction in which the terminal accommodating portions 32 are arranged) by the both elastic portions 18 fitted in the both guide grooves 38. And it is supported in an aligned state so that displacement can be restricted in the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the alignment direction and the fitting direction to the connector fitting portion 62) (see FIGS. 1 and 2). In other words, the connector 30 is always arranged at the center in the holding body 13 and is movable in the width direction within the clearance range in the holding body 13 when receiving an external force in the width direction.

  Subsequently, the module 10 is attached so as to cover the counterpart module 60, and each terminal accommodating portion 32 of the connector 30 is collectively fitted to the corresponding connector fitting portion 62. In this case, since the tolerances are stacked in the width direction in which the connector fitting portions 62 and the terminal accommodating portions 32 are arranged, the terminal fitting portions 32 and the connector fitting portions 62 are properly fitted at the start of fitting. The position may be displaced in the width direction from the alignment position.

  However, according to the present embodiment, when each terminal accommodating portion 32 starts a fitting operation with each connector fitting portion 62, each terminal accommodating portion 32 swings and the connector 30 is connected to the elastic portion 18. By displacing in the holding body 13 in the width direction with a bending operation, it is possible to absorb a positional shift between each terminal accommodating portion 32 and each connector fitting portion 62, and smoothly advance the fitting operation. Be able to.

  In this case, since the connector 30 is centered in the center of the holding body 13 by the elastic portion 18, the connector 30 and the connector portion are compared with the case where the connector 30 is eccentric to one side in the width direction in the holding body 13. It is possible to halve the maximum value of the amount of misalignment with respect to 61. As a result, the lead-in of the connector 30 to the connector portion 61 can be reduced, and as a result, an increase in the size of the connector 30 can be avoided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the elastic portion 18 is fitted into the guide groove 38 in the floating restricted state in the up-down direction so that the tolerance stack does not need to be particularly considered. Displacement in the holding body 13 in the vertical direction is restricted. For this reason, it is not necessary to secure a space in the holding body 13 that allows the connector 30 to be displaced in the vertical direction, and the vertical dimension in the holding body 13 can be reduced. As a result, the increase in size of the connector 30 can be avoided more reliably.

  Further, in the process of inserting the connector 30 into the holding body 13, the elastic portion 18 is fitted in the guide groove 38 of the connector 30 in the vertical direction in a substantially positioned state and slides, so that the insertion posture of the connector 30 is increased. Since the correction is made without tilting in the vertical direction, the connector 30 is smoothly inserted into the holding body 13. In this case, since the elastic portion 18 is used as the guide structure of the connector 30, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated guide structure other than the elastic portion 18 in the connector holding portion 12, and the configuration of the connector holding portion 12 can be simplified. Can be planned.

<Other embodiments>
Other embodiments will be briefly described below.
(1) The elastic portion may have a separate structure from the housing portion.
(2) Each terminal accommodating portion may be fixed to the housing portion so as not to swing.
(3) The present invention is not limited to the above-described battery wiring module, but includes a connector having a plurality of terminal accommodating portions arranged side by side, a module having a holding portion capable of accommodating the connector, and each terminal housing. The present invention can be widely applied to a connector module including a mating module provided with a plurality of connector fitting portions that can be fitted together with a portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Module 11 ... Holding part 12 ... Connector holding part 18 ... Elastic part 30 ... Connector 32 ... Terminal accommodating part 38 ... Guide groove 60 ... Counterpart module 62 ... Connector fitting part 80 ... Terminal metal fitting

Claims (2)

A connector provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating portions that can accommodate terminal fittings, and a module having a holding portion capable of accommodating and holding the connector;
A mating module provided with a plurality of connector fitting portions that are attached to the module and can be fitted together with the plurality of terminal accommodating portions;
The holding portion is capable of aligning the connector so that the connector can be displaced in a direction in which the terminal accommodating portions are arranged, and displacement can be regulated in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction and the fitting direction to the connector fitting portion. A connector module, characterized in that an elastic part is provided.   The elastic portion is configured to protrude in pairs on both inner surfaces facing in the arrangement direction of the holding portion, and the connector is inserted into the holding portion on both side surfaces in the arrangement direction of the connector. The connector module according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is fitted and a guide groove is provided for guiding the connector so that displacement can be restricted in a direction orthogonal to the alignment direction and the fitting direction. .

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