Female connector

Abstract

In a female connector, a stroke of a front holder from an allowed position to a restricted position is extended, and loosening of the front holder at the allowed position is suppressed. A female connector (11) is provided with a female housing (6) and a front holder (5). The female housing (6) includes a main body portion (60) and insertion guide portions (65b, 65c) extending forward from a front end surface (60a) of the main body portion (60). The main body part (60) comprises a female terminal accommodating cavity for accommodating the female terminal and a lance engaged with the female terminal. The front holder (5) is attached to the main body section (60) so as to be movable in the front-rear direction within a range between a permitting position at which bending of the lance is permitted and a restricting position at which bending of the lance is restricted. The insertion guide portions (65b, 65c) are in contact with an inner surface of a peripheral wall (50) of the front holder (5) in a state where the front holder (5) is located at the allowed position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a female connector with a front retainer. Background Technology

[0002] A female connector is known, wherein the female terminal is housed in a housing.

[0003] like Figure 9 As shown, the female connector 510F includes a female housing 511F, a plurality of female terminals 520F, and a front retainer 525F (see Patent Document 1).

[0004] Inside the female housing 511F, a female terminal receiving cavity 512F, a spear 513F that engages with the female terminal 520F, and a bending space 514F for the spear 513 are formed.

[0005] The front retainer 525F is assembled with the female housing 511F from the front. Since the detection part 527F is located in the bending space 514F, the front retainer 525F restricts the bending of the spear 513F to retain the female terminal 520F.

[0006] In addition, such as Figure 9 As shown, the front retainer 525F is in such a situation Figure 9 The range between the allowable position for bending of the spear 513F shown by the detection unit 527F and the limiting position for bending of the spear 513F shown by the detection unit 527E is movably assembled in the female housing 511F in the front-back direction.

[0007] [List of Citations]

[0008] [Patent Literature]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-16402A Summary of the Invention

[0010] [Technical Issues]

[0011] In female connectors with a front retainer, there is a need to extend the travel between the allowable and restricted positions of the front retainer. However, if the travel is extended, the front retainer becomes loose at the allowable position, making this configuration difficult to achieve.

[0012] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to extend the travel of the front retainer from the allowable position to the restricted position and to suppress loosening of the front retainer in the allowable position in a female connector having a front retainer.

[0013] [Solution to the problem]

[0014] This invention relates to a female connector, comprising a female terminal, a female housing, and a front retainer. The female housing includes a main body and an insertion guide extending forward from the front end of the main body. The main body includes a female terminal receiving cavity for receiving the female terminal and a shank that engages with the female terminal. The front retainer includes a front wall located in front of the front end surface of the main body, a peripheral wall located at the outer periphery of the main body, and a limiting portion for restricting the bending of the shank. The front retainer is mounted to the main body in a manner that allows it to move in a front-rear direction within a range between a permissible position where the limiting portion allows bending of the shank and a limiting position where the limiting portion restricts bending of the shank. Furthermore, when the front retainer is in the permissible position, the insertion guide contacts the inner surface of the peripheral wall.

[0015] [The effects of the invention]

[0016] According to the present invention, it is possible to extend the travel of the front retainer from the allowable position to the restricted position and to suppress loosening of the front retainer at the allowable position in a female connector having a front retainer. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a perspective view showing a female connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is shown Figure 1 An exploded view of the female connector in the diagram.

[0019] Figure 3 It is shown Figure 2 A three-dimensional diagram of the female shell.

[0020] Figure 4 It is shown Figure 1 Front view of the female connector in the middle.

[0021] Figure 5 It is along Figure 4 The cross-sectional view of centerline AA shows the front retainer in the permissible position.

[0022] Figure 6 It is shown Figure 5 The view shown shows the front retainer separated from the female housing.

[0023] Figure 7 It is shown Figure 5 The view shown depicts the front retainer in its restricted position.

[0024] Figure 8 It is along Figure 4 The cross-sectional view of the center line BB shows the front retainer in the restricted position.

[0025] Figure 9 This is a view showing a conventional female connector.

[0026] Reference tag list

[0027] 5. Front retainer

[0028] 6. Anterior shell

[0029] 11 Female connector

[0030] 15 female terminals

[0031] 50th week wall

[0032] 51 Anterior wall

[0033] 53 Restriction Section

[0034] 60 Main body

[0035] 61 Female terminal receiving cavity

[0036] 63 Spear shaft

[0037] Insert the guide section into 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d. Detailed Implementation

[0038] Reference Figures 1 to 8 A "female connector" is described according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 4 The female connector 11 shown mates with a male connector having multiple male terminals and a male housing. In this specification, for the female connector 11, the male connector side in the mating direction with the male connector is referred to as the "front side", and the opposite side is referred to as the "rear side".

[0040] Female connector 11 includes a plurality of female terminals 15 ( Figure 2 (Only one is shown in the image), short-circuit terminal 4, female housing 6, outer housing 3, spring 16, seal 2 and front retainer 5.

[0041] Each female terminal 15 is connected to the end of the wire 13. A rubber plug 14 is attached to the end of the wire 13. The rubber plug 14 is configured to seal the gap between the wire 13 and the wall constituting the female terminal receiving cavity 61, as described below. Each female terminal 15 includes a rectangular cylindrical portion capable of receiving a male terminal and a spring sheet disposed inside the rectangular cylindrical portion.

[0042] The short-circuit terminal 4 is configured to contact two adjacent female terminals 15 when the male connector and female connector 11 are not mated, thereby short-circuiting these female terminals 15. For example... Figure 2 and Figure 8As shown, the short-circuit terminal 4 includes a base 41 and two spring contacts 42 continuous with the base 41. When the male connector and female connector 11 mate with each other, the short-circuit terminal 4 becomes disconnected from the two female terminals 15 because a portion of the male housing enters the gap between the two spring contacts 42 and the two female terminals 15. Therefore, the short-circuit state of the two female terminals 15 is released.

[0043] The female housing 6 is made of insulating synthetic resin. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the female housing 6 integrally includes a main body 60, a spring receiving cavity 66, an upper plate 67, and insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d.

[0044] The main body 60 is formed with a cuboid external shape and has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front. For example... Figure 4 and Figure 8 As shown, the main body 60 includes a female terminal receiving cavity 61 for receiving the female terminal 15, a spear 63, and a short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64 for receiving the short-circuit terminal 4. Furthermore, as... Figure 8 As shown, female terminal 15 is omitted.

[0045] The spear 63 is cantilevered and continuous with the wall constituting the female terminal receiving cavity 61, wherein its free end engages with the rear end of the square cylindrical portion of the female terminal 15 to prevent the female terminal 15 from falling out. When the female terminal 15 is inserted into the female terminal receiving cavity 61 from the rear, the spear 63 is pressed by the female terminal 15 to bend in a curved space outside the insertion path of the female terminal 15. Then, when the female terminal 15 is inserted into the normal position of the female terminal receiving cavity 61, the spear 63 elastically returns to its original position to engage with the rear end of the square cylindrical portion of the female terminal 15.

[0046] like Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64 is provided at two locations on the lower left and right ends of the main body 60. Furthermore, according to this example, and according to specifications, the short-circuit terminal 4 is only received in… Figure 4 The short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64 is located on the left side, and the short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64 on the right side is not used.

[0047] like Figure 8 As shown, the short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64 is configured to communicate with the female terminal receiving cavity 61 on its upper side, and the spring contact portion 42 of the short-circuit terminal 4 can enter the female terminal receiving cavity 61. As described above, before the female connector 11 mates with the male connector, the spring contact portion 42 is located in the female terminal receiving cavity 61 to contact the female terminal 15. Then, when the male connector and the female connector 11 mate with each other, a portion of the male housing (the plate-shaped short-circuit release portion) enters the gap between the female terminal 15 and the spring contact portion 42, so that the spring contact portion 42 is located in the short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64.

[0048] Furthermore, the short-circuit terminal 4 is located outside the main body 60, with its front end protruding from the front end surface 60a of the main body 60. That is, the front end of the short-circuit terminal 4 is located in front of the front end of the female terminal 15. The front end of the short-circuit terminal 4 is covered by the protrusion 55c of the front retainer 5, which will be described later.

[0049] The spring receiving cavity 66 is a portion used to receive the rear half of the spring 16. The spring receiving cavity 66 is continuous with the left and right side surfaces of the main body 60.

[0050] The upper plate portion 67 is arranged on the upper side of the main body portion 60. In the upper plate portion 67, a protrusion 68 is formed in the through hole 38 of the outer shell 3 as described below, and a locking portion 69 is formed to engage with the male shell.

[0051] For ease of description of the structure of the present invention, terms indicating direction are used, such as "lower part of the main body 60", "upper side of the main body 50" and "left and right side surfaces of the main body 70", and they are based on the paper orientation of the drawings. Therefore, these terms indicating direction may not be consistent with the actual orientation of the female connector 11 in use.

[0052] Insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d are configured to contact the front retainer 5, guiding the front retainer 5 in the front-rear direction while preventing loosening of the front retainer 3. Insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d extend forward from the front end surface 60a of the main body 60 and from the four corners of the main body 60. Insertion guides 65a and 65b, located in the upper and left / right ends of the main body 60, are rod-shaped. Insertion guides 65c and 65d, located in the lower and left / right ends of the main body 60, are plate-shaped. Figure 8 As shown, the front ends of these insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d are located in front of the front end of the short-circuit terminal 4.

[0053] The outer casing 3 is made of insulating synthetic resin. The outer casing 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape and integrally includes an outer casing body 30 that accommodates the female casing 6 and a spring receiving cavity 36.

[0054] The outer shell main body 30 is configured to position the cylindrical wall of the male shell between the outer shell main body 30 and the main body 60. A through hole 38 is formed in the outer shell main body 30 for positioning the female shell 6 protrusion 68.

[0055] The spring receiving cavity 36 is a portion for receiving the front half of the spring 16. The front half of the spring 16 is received in the spring receiving cavity 36 of the outer casing 3, and the rear half of the spring 16 is received in the spring receiving cavity 66 of the inner casing 6. The spring 16 is configured such that the inner casing 6 is rearwardly biased relative to the outer casing 3.

[0056] like Figure 2 , Figure 5 and Figure 8 As shown, the seal 2 includes an annular portion 21 fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the main body 60 and an engaging portion 22 continuous with the annular portion 21 and engaging with the opening 62 of the female housing 6. The annular portion 21 is pressed and squeezed by the outer peripheral surface of the main body 60 and the cylindrical wall of the male housing to elastically deform, thereby sealing the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the main body 60 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall of the male housing. Before the front retainer 5 is fitted to the main body 60, such a seal 2 is fitted to the female housing 6 from the front side of the main body 60.

[0057] The front retainer 5 is made of insulating synthetic resin. For example... Figure 2 and Figures 5 to 8 As shown, the front retainer 5 integrally includes a front wall 51, a peripheral wall 50 located at the outer periphery of the main body 60, protrusions 55a, 55b, 55c, and 55d protruding forward relative to the front wall 51, a limiting portion 53, and an engaging protrusion 58.

[0058] The front retainer 5 is able to be in the permitted position (see Figure 5 and Figure 8 ) and restricted locations (see Figure 7 The range between the two parts is moved in the front-back direction and is connected to the main body 60, wherein, in the allowable position, the limiting part 53 allows the bending of the spear 63, and in the limiting position, the limiting part 53 restricts the bending of the spear 63. Figure 5 In the attached figures, the reference numeral "S" indicates the travel of the front retainer 5 from the permitted position to the restricted position. The female connector 11 is configured such that the travel S of the front retainer 5 is greater than that of conventional products.

[0059] The engaging protrusion 58 is configured to temporarily engage with the engaging recess 71 formed in the main body 60 at the allowable position. Furthermore, the engaging protrusion 58 is configured to formally engage with the engaging recess 72 formed in the main body 60 at the restricted position.

[0060] The front wall 51 is a wall located on the front side of the front end surface 60a of the main body 60. A plurality of openings 56 and 57 are formed in the front wall 51.

[0061] When the male connector and female connector 11 mate, the male terminal of the male connector passes through the opening 56 to be inserted into the female terminal receiving cavity 61. Furthermore, when the current retainer 5 is in the restricted position, the insertion guides 65a and 65b pass through the opening 56 to be positioned in front of the front wall 51.

[0062] An opening 57 is formed directly below the protrusions 55c and 55d. When the retainer 5 is positioned in the restricted position, the guides 65c and 65d are inserted through the opening 57 to be positioned in front of the front wall 51.

[0063] Protrusions 55a and 55b project forward from the upper part and the corners of the left and right ends of the front wall 51. Protrusions 55a and 55b are formed with an L-shaped cross-sectional shape. Protrusions 55c and 55d are located in front of each of the two short-circuit terminal receiving cavities 64. When the front retainer 5 is in the restricted position, protrusions 55c and 55d cover the front end of the short-circuit terminal 4. Furthermore, in this example, according to specifications, the short-circuit terminal 4 is received in only one short-circuit terminal receiving cavity 64.

[0064] The limiting part 53 is a plate disposed on the inner side of the peripheral wall 50, and it is configured to be positioned in the bending space of the spear 63 at the limiting position to limit the bending of the spear 63. Therefore, the engagement state between the spear 63 and the female terminal 15 is maintained, and the female terminal 15 is prevented from falling off.

[0065] After the seal 2 is attached to the female housing 6, the front retainer 5 is attached to the allowable position of the main body 60. In this state, the female terminal 15 is inserted into the female terminal receiving cavity 61, and after the spear 63 engages with the female terminal 15, the front retainer 5 is moved to the restricted position of the main body 60.

[0066] For the front retainer 5, when the female terminal 15 is inserted into the female terminal receiving cavity 61 in its normal position, the front retainer can move from the allowed position to the restricted position; however, when the female terminal 15 is partially inserted, the front retainer 5 cannot move to the restricted position. This is because the restricting part 53 collides with the spear 63, which is positioned in the curved space by pressing against the partially inserted female terminal 15. In this way, the front retainer 5 detects the partially inserted state of the female terminal 15.

[0067] like Figure 5 and Figure 8 As shown, with the front retainer 5 in the permitted position, the outer peripheral surface of the main body 60 and the insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d are in contact with the inner surface of the peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 50. Therefore, loosening of the front retainer 5 is suppressed. That is, due to the provision of the insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d, the contact surface area with the inner surface of the peripheral wall 50 is increased compared to the case where the insertion guides are not provided, and thus loosening of the front retainer 5 is suppressed.

[0068] Furthermore, in this example, since four insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d are provided extending forward from the four corners of the front end surface 60a of the main body 60, the front retainer 5 can be supported more stably in the allowable position, and thus loosening can be further suppressed.

[0069] Furthermore, when the current retainer 5 moves from the allowed position to the restricted position, it moves backward along the insertion guides 65a, 65b, 65c, and 65d in a straight line. For example... Figure 7 As shown, with the front retainer 5 in the restricted position, the insertion guides 65a and 65b contact the protrusions 55a and 55b respectively, and the insertion guides 65c and 65d contact the protrusions 55c and 55d respectively.

[0070] In this way, the female connector 11 can extend the travel S of the front retainer 5 from the allowable position to the restricted position, while suppressing the loosening of the front retainer in the allowable position.

[0071] Furthermore, the reason for extending the stroke S is that the front retainer 5 needs to be extended forward so that the limiting part 53 of the front retainer 5 and the short-circuit terminal 4 do not contact each other at the permissible position. That is, Figure 8 The limiting portion 53 shown extends beyond the spring contact portion 42 of the short-circuit terminal 4 to be positioned within the bending space of the spear 63. However, in the case where the limiting portion 53 is positioned further back than in the example shown in the figures, the limiting portion 53 is pressed down from below by the spring contact portion 42. If this pressing state continues for a long time, the limiting portion 53 will tend to deform upwards, making it impossible for the front retainer 5 to move to the limiting position, and there is a risk that the original intended function cannot be achieved. In the female connector 11, the stroke S is extended to avoid this situation.

[0072] Note that the above embodiments only illustrate typical aspects of the invention, and the invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Of course, as long as these modifications still have the construction according to the invention, they will fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A female connector (11) comprising a female terminal (16), a female housing (6), and a front retainer (5), in, The female housing (6) includes a main body (60) and insertion guides (65a, 65b, 65c, 65d) extending forward from the front end surface (60a) of the main body (60). The main body (60) includes a female terminal receiving cavity (61) for accommodating the female terminal (16) and a spear (63) that engages with the female terminal (16). The front retainer (5) includes: a front wall (51) located in front of the front end surface (60a) of the main body (60), a peripheral wall (50) located on the outer periphery of the main body (60), and a limiting part (53) that restricts the bending of the spear (63). The front retainer (5) is attached to the main body (60) in a manner that allows it to move in the front-rear direction within a range between a permissible position and a restricted position, wherein, in the permissible position, the restrictor (53) allows bending of the spear shaft (63), and in the restricted position, the restrictor (53) restricts bending of the spear shaft (63), and With the front retainer (5) in the permitted position, the insertion guides (65a, 65b, 65c, 65d) are in contact with the inner surface of the peripheral wall (50).

2. The female connector (11) according to claim 1, in, The main body (60) is rectangular in shape when viewed from the front, and The insertion guides (65a, 65b, 65c, 65d) extend forward from the front surface (60a) of the main body (60) and the four corners of the main body (60).

3. The female connector (11) according to claim 1, in, An opening (56, 57) is formed in the front wall (51) of the front retainer (5), and With the front retainer (5) in the restricted position, the insertion guides (65a, 65b, 65c, 65d) pass through the openings (56, 57) to be positioned in front of the front wall (51).

4. The female connector (11) according to claim 3, in, The front retainer (5) includes protrusions (55a, 55b, 55c, 55d) that protrude forward beyond the front wall (51), and With the front retainer (5) in the restricted position, the insertion guide (65a, 65b, 65c, 65d) contacts the protrusion (55a, 55b, 55c, 55d).

Images