JP2605190B2 - Connector connection method and connection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for connecting a female connector and a male connector at the same time, for example, when assembling components in an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automatic assembly of various components in automobiles has been strongly promoted. For example, when assembling an instrument panel (hereinafter abbreviated as an instrument panel) to a dashboard, a wire harness is required. There is a demand for a structure that can be connected at the same time. FIG. 6 shows an example (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-142345), in which an assembly guide b is provided at the center of a dashboard a, and an instrument panel d is provided.
Are provided with corresponding engagement rails e, so that the connectors c, c on the left and right sides of the dashboard and the connectors c ', c' on the instrument panel side are connected at the same time when the instrument panel d is mounted on the dashboard a. . As shown in FIG. 7, the connector c 'is formed as a movable connector provided with a ring-shaped spring member f around the circumference, and absorbs errors in up, down, left, and right during assembly. G and g 'are connector mounting plates,
h indicates a fitting groove.

[0003]

In the connection structure of the connectors c and c 'shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the dimensional error in the connector fitting direction is not sufficiently absorbed, and when the heavy instrument panel d is assembled. Due to the inertia of the two connectors c and c ', the state of the mating start is shifted to the fully mating state as it is. Therefore, when the number of poles of the connector terminal is large or when the insertion force of the terminal is large, a large force is applied to the connector itself. And the terminals and the connector housing are easily damaged, and the reliability of the electrical connection is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problem. When one of a female connector and a male connector is attached to a dashboard and the other is attached to an instrument panel, the female and male connectors are assembled when both are assembled. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector connection method and apparatus that reliably absorbs dimensional errors between the connectors, prevents damage to the connector terminals and the connector housing, and obtains a highly reliable electrical connection state.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, methods connector connection present invention, as described in claim 1, is fixed assembled so as to face the car dashboard and said board A frame-like connector that can be displaced up and down and left and right on one of the surfaces facing the instrument panel
Movably inserted into Tahoruda, a male connector having a cam pin on both sides of the outer peripheral wall accommodates a plurality of female terminals provided, on the other hand, the position regulating the number Mr of the male connector coaxially accommodates a plurality of male terminals A female connector having a cam member having a cam groove detachably attached thereto, and an instrument panel mounted and fixed to the dashboard to connect the male connector to the hood. To adjust the position concentrically with the female connector , hold the female and male terminals in a temporary mating position where they do not come into contact, and then push in the cam member to engage the cam groove. the Rukoto attract <br/> Mupin the female connector side, the male
The connector is moved to a full fitting position where the female and male terminals are completely in contact. Further, the connecting device accommodates a plurality of female terminals on one of opposing surfaces of a dashboard of the automobile and an instrument panel assembled and fixed to oppose the board. A connector connecting device in which a male connector is provided, and a female connector accommodating a plurality of male terminals is provided on the other side, and the female and male connectors can be fitted and connected at the same time as mounting the instrument panel to the dashboard. , to one of the dashboard and the instrument panel, mounting a bracket <br/> bets the elastic locking pieces is provided around the fitting opening, the elastic frame-shaped connector holder is inserted into the fitting opening locking piece to the mounting to be elastically displaced in the vertical and horizontal, on both sides of the outer peripheral wall of the male connector while retractably inserting the male connector into the connector holder Projecting the Mupin, wherein the female connector of the hood, the arm insertion hole formed orthogonally to the pin guide groove provided with a pin guide groove for inserting guiding the cam pin in the connector fitting direction, to the arm insertion hole The arm is removably mounted on a cam member having a pair of arms provided with a cam groove intersecting with the pin guide groove and engaging with the cam pin, and the male member is mounted when the dashboard and the instrument panel are assembled. The connector is partially inserted into the hood of the female connector
Wherein with the positioning on the connector and coaxial female temporary fitted state of the male terminal is nearly untouched, cam pin engaging the cam groove by pressing operation of the cam member
The Rukoto attracted to the female connector side, said male connector
The female and male terminals are moved to a fully engaged position where the female and male terminals are completely in contact with each other.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the female and male connectors are temporarily fitted by assembling the instrument panel to the dashboard.
Male connector from being inserted into the connector holder mounted for resiliently displaceable vertically and horizontally with respect to the bracket, position in the female connector and concentric with the hood of the female connector
Location adjusted Rutotomoni, female, since the male terminal (connector pin) is substantially non-contact state, not apply excessive force, such as twisting the connector terminals and the connector housing, damage is prevented. Therefore, the push operation of the cam member is performed.
And cam pin engage with cam groove and move smoothly with less force
Female and male connectors in a state where the female and male connectors are concentric.
This is the final fitting position where the null is connected, and a stable electrical connection state is obtained.

[0007]

In FIG. 1, A is a male connector, B is a female connector, C is a cam member, the male connector A is supported on a dashboard via a connector holder D and a bracket E, and the female connector B is on the instrument panel side. It is fixed to the housing.

As shown in FIG. 2, a housing 1 made of a synthetic resin for the male connector A has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 2 therein, and cam pins 3, 3 are provided in front of upper and lower outer peripheral walls. The terminal accommodation chamber 2 accommodates a female terminal 16 with an electric wire. A fitting guide chamfer 1a is formed on the fitting surface side of the housing 1 with the female connector B, and the cam pins 3 and 3 protrude from the chamfer 1a. Also,
Connector holder D
, A plurality of guide grooves 4 are recessed along the fitting direction, and two slide grooves 5 are vertically formed on the left and right outer peripheral walls, and a temporary locking recess 5 a is formed in each slide groove 5.
And a final locking recess 5b.

The connector holder D comprises a frame-shaped main body 6 for supporting the male connector A so as to be able to advance and retreat, and a retaining flange 7 provided around the rear end edge. On the inner surfaces of the upper, lower, left and right frame walls of the frame-shaped main body 6, guide projections 8 are formed so as to be aligned with the guide grooves 4 of the male connector A, and two flexible locking arms 9, 9 are provided. The flexible locking arm 9 is formed to be elastically displaceable inside the frame-shaped main body 6 through the slits 10 on both sides, and the free end thereof is provided with the slide groove 5.
Has a locking claw 9a that engages with the temporary locking recess 5a and the final locking recess 5b. A reinforcing rib 6a is provided around the front end of the frame-shaped main body 6.

The bracket E has a fitting opening 12 for the connector holder D at the center of the frame-shaped main body 11, and
Elastic support pieces 13 are projected from four sides of the mouth 12. Further, a dovetail groove 1 is provided on both sides of the fitting opening 12 of the plate-shaped main body 11.
A clip mounting portion 14 having a protrusion 4a is formed so as to protrude, and a substrate portion 15a of the clip 15 is detachably mounted in the dovetail groove 14a. Note that the clip 15 is used for the plate-shaped main body 1.
Plastic molding may be performed integrally with 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the female connector B is provided with a hood 18 for receiving the male connector A in front of a housing main body 17 and a mounting flange 19 at a rear end thereof. A male terminal 21 corresponding to the female terminal 16 is housed and locked at 20 (see FIG. 4). The hood 18 is a frame composed of left and right side walls 18a and upper and lower side walls 18b thicker than the hood 18. Pin guide grooves 22 for the cam pins 3 of the male connector A are recessed on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower side walls 18b. Have been. The pin guide groove 22 extends in the fitting direction of the male connector A, and has an opening at the tip end thereof provided with an introduction guide groove 22 a sufficiently wider than the outer diameter of the cam pin 3. Further, arm insertion holes 23 for the pair of arms 27 of the cam lever C are provided through the upper and lower side walls 18b of the hood 18. The arm insertion hole 23 is formed orthogonal to the connector fitting direction, that is, across the pin guide groove 22.
A flexible locking piece 24 is provided on the outer surface of b. The flexible locking piece 24 is inserted into the arm insertion hole 2 through the two slits 25.
3, and a locking claw 24a is protruded from the inner surface of its free end.

The cam member C has a U-shape. Arms 27 are provided at both ends of an operation plate 26 at right angles.
A cam groove 28 for engaging with the cam pin 3 is recessed on the inner surface, and a locking groove 2 for engaging with the flexible locking piece 24 is formed on the outer surface.
9 is recessed. The cam groove 28 includes a wide introduction guide groove 28a and an inclined groove 28b extending obliquely rearward therefrom. Further, the locking groove 29 is provided with a temporary locking concave portion 29a on the front end side and a main locking concave portion 29b on the rear end side.

In the above configuration, when the connector holder D is first inserted into the fitting opening 12 of the bracket E, the retaining flange 7 comes into contact with the plate-shaped main body 11 and the front ends of the four sides of the elastic support pieces 13 are reinforced. Engage with rib 6a. As a result, the connector holder D is prevented from being pulled out in the front-rear direction, and the connector holder D is supported by the four elastic support pieces 13 so as to be vertically and horizontally displaceable as indicated by arrows X and Y in FIG. Therefore, the male connector A attached to the terminal of the wire harness W (see FIG. 4A) is inserted into the frame-shaped main body 6 to be in a temporarily locked state. That is, the frame-shaped main body 6
The male connector A is inserted smoothly by the alignment of the inner guide ridge 8 and the guide groove 4 on the outer periphery of the housing 1.
Locking claw 9 of flexible locking arm 9 entering along slide groove 5
a engages with the temporary locking recess 5a, and the male connector A is temporarily locked with respect to the connector holder D in a state in which the male connector A can advance and retreat as indicated by the arrow Z in FIG. Finally, connector holder D
The bracket E to which the connector A is attached via the
As shown in (A), the mounting holes a ₁ ,
the clip 15, 15 to fix crowded difference to a _1.

On the other hand, the female connector B is, for example, an instrument panel d.
(See FIG. 6), the mounting flange 19 is screwed and fixed. The female connector B has a pair of arms 27, 2 of the cam member C previously inserted into the arm insertion holes 23, 23.
7, the locking claws 24 a of the flexible locking pieces 24 are engaged with the temporary locking recesses 29 a of the locking grooves 29 and are temporarily locked (see FIG. 1). At this temporary locking position, the guide groove 28a of the cam groove 28 and the guide groove 22a of the pin guide groove 22 coincide with each other.

In the above state, the instrument panel d is tightened and fixed to the dashboard a by bolts as in FIG. 6 and the assembly is completed. Then, as shown in FIG. Is the hood 18 of the female connector B
Enters (temporary fitting). At this time, female and male terminals 1
6, 21 have not yet contacted. The male connector A is easily fitted into the hood 18 by the chamfer 1a on the fitting surface side, and has a self-centering function because the male connector A can be displaced up, down, left and right as described above. Therefore, even if the female connector B has a slight misalignment, this is absorbed, and the female and male connectors A and B are always kept in alignment by temporary fitting, and the opposite female and male terminals 16 and 21 are opposed. Also, the axes coincide with each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the pin guide groove 22 of the female connector B and the cam groove 28 of the cam member C with respect to the cam pin 3 of the male connector A have wide introduction guide grooves 22a and 28a, respectively. Also, the cam pins 3 do not pry on these grooves 22, 28.

The final fitting of the female and male connectors A and B is performed by operating the cam member C after the temporary fitting. In FIG. 5A, when the cam member C is pushed in the direction of the arrow P, (the inclined groove 28 of the cam groove 28 that engages with the cam pin 3).
According to b), the male connector A is drawn toward the female connector B as indicated by the arrow Q. FIG. 4 (B) and FIG. 5 (B)
Indicates a fully fitted state of the two connectors, wherein the first half of the male connector A is completely fitted into the hood 18, the fitting surfaces are in contact with each other, and the male terminal 21 is also completely in contact with the female terminal 16. doing. In this fully fitted state, the locking claw 24a of the flexible locking piece 24 of the hood 18 engages with the locking recess 29b of the locking groove 29 of the cam member C, so that the cam member C is locked ( (See FIG. 3). The locking claw 9a of the flexible locking arm 9 engages with the locking recess 5b of the slide groove 5 in the male connector A, and the male connector A is also locked (FIG. 2).
reference).

In the above description, the male connector A is mounted on the dashboard and the female connector B is mounted on the instrument panel. In order to change the female and male connectors A and B from the full fitting to the temporary fitting, the cam member C may be pulled back in the direction of the arrow P 'in FIG. 5B.
The fitting of the female and male connectors A and B, that is, the fitting of the female and male terminals 16 and 21 is performed with less force than the original fitting force by the engagement between the inclined groove 28b of the cam member C and the cam pin 3. Therefore, even a multi-pole connector can be connected very easily.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With one of the female and male connectors fixed to the dashboard and the other to the instrument panel, assemble the instrument panel on the dashboard.
The male connector is concentric with the female connector
Adjusted and partially inserted into the hood, male and female
Terminal is the temporary mating position for the non-contact bear, and the cam member is
When operated, the female connector is smoothly held while the male connector is held concentrically
Since it is inserted into the connector and reaches the full mating position, a small force
Thus, the connector can be easily inserted and removed, and the connector terminal and the housing can be prevented from being damaged, so that a highly reliable electrical connection state can be obtained .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a separated state of a female connector and a male connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the female connector of FIG.

4A is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a temporary fitting state of a male connector and a female connector in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a full fitting state thereof.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are FIGS. 4A and 4B, respectively.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a part corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional connector connection device.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a support structure of the dashboard-side connector of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A Male connector B Female connector C Cam member D Connector holder E Bracket 1 Housing 3 Cam pin 12 Fitting hole 13 Elastic support piece 16 Female terminal 17 Housing body 18 Hood 21 Male terminal 22 Pin guide groove 23 Arm insertion hole 27 Arm 28 Cam groove

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Sano 206-1 Nunobikihara, Haibara-cho, Haibara-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture Inside Yazaki Parts Co., Ltd. (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 58-49893 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A frame-like frame that can be elastically displaced up and down and left and right on one of opposing surfaces of a dashboard of an automobile and an instrument panel assembled and fixed to face the board .
Movably inserted into the connector holder, the male connector having a cam pin on both sides of the outer peripheral wall accommodates a plurality of female terminals provided, on the other hand, the male connector positioned adjusted concentrically accommodates a plurality of male terminals A female connector having a cam member having a cam groove removably attached thereto, and an instrument panel mounted and fixed to the dashboard. When the male connector is partially fitted into the hood and adjusted to be concentric with the female connector,
Then, after holding the female and male terminals in a temporary fitting position where they do not come into contact with each other, the cam member is pushed into engagement with the cam groove .
By Rukoto attracted the cam pin to female connector side,
A method of connecting a connector, wherein the male connector is moved to a full fitting position where the female and male terminals are completely in contact. 2. A male connector accommodating a plurality of female terminals is provided on one of opposing surfaces of a dashboard of an automobile and an instrument panel fixedly attached to the dashboard, and a plurality of male terminals is provided on the other. A connector connecting device which is provided with a female connector accommodating a female connector and a female connector and a male connector which can be fitted and connected at the same time as attaching the instrument panel to the dashboard, wherein one of the dashboard and the instrument panel is provided. attaching a bracket to which the elastic latching pieces provided around fitting opening, mounted for resiliently displacing the frame-shaped connector holder to be inserted into the fitting opening vertically and horizontally on the elastic latching pieces, said connector on both sides of the outer peripheral wall of the male connector with the male connector into the holder inserting a retractable projecting cam pins, said female connector The hood, the arm insertion hole formed orthogonally to the pin guide groove provided with a pin guide groove for inserting guiding the cam pin in the connector fitting direction, the said arm insertion hole intersect with the pin guide groove the cam pin The arm of a cam member having a pair of arms provided with a cam groove to be engaged with the arm is detachably mounted, and the male connector is partially attached to the hood of the female connector when the dashboard and the instrument panel are assembled.
The connector is inserted and adjusted concentrically with the female connector, and the female and male terminals are tentatively fitted in almost non-contact state.
The cam member is engaged with the cam groove by a pushing operation.
Cam pin to Rukoto are attracted to the female connector side that
Wherein the male connector is moved to a fully engaged position where the female and male terminals are completely in contact with each other.