Connector

Abstract

To provide a connector that enables miniaturization of a locking mechanism.SOLUTION: A male housing 4 of a male connector 1 has a rectangular tubular housing body 40, a locking mechanism 5 connected to the top portion of the housing body 40, and a pair of terminal holders 42 connected to the rear end of the housing body 40. The locking mechanism 5 has a locking arm 50 that engages with the female housing to maintain the mated state between the female housing and the housing body 40. The locking arm 50 has an arm portion 51 that is connected to the housing body 40 and extends cantilever-like forward toward the female housing, and a protrusion 53 formed on the front end side of the arm portion 51. The arm portion 51 is formed so that the thickness thereof gradually decreases from the rear end side connected to the housing body 40 toward the front end side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector. [Background technology]

[0002] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a female connector 502 and a male connector 507 that fit together (see Patent Document 1).

[0003] Female connector 502 includes a female terminal 526 connected to an end of electric wire 525, and a female housing 520. Female housing 520 includes a housing body 522 that accommodates female terminal 526, and a locking mechanism 530. As shown in FIG. 8, locking mechanism 530 includes a locking arm 531 and a release arm 538.

[0004] The lock arm 531 is connected to the housing main body 522 and has a pair of elastic arm portions 532 extending parallel to each other forward in the fitting direction, and a locking portion 536 connecting the front ends of the pair of elastic arm portions 532. The locking portion 536 is locked to a protrusion 573 of the male housing 570.

[0005] The release arm 538 has a pair of support arm portions 533 connected to the front ends of the pair of elastic arm portions 532 and arranged outside the pair of elastic arm portions 532, and an operating portion 534 connecting the rear ends of the pair of support arm portions 533.

[0006] The male connector 507 includes a male terminal 577 and a male housing 570. The male housing 570 includes a connection portion 571 that houses the male terminal 577, and a protrusion 573 formed on an upper portion of the connection portion 571.

[0007] In the female connector 502 and the male connector 507, when the housing body 522 and the connecting portion 571 are fitted together, the lock arm 531 engages with the protrusion 573, thereby maintaining the fitted state between the housing body 522 and the connecting portion 571. To release the fitted state between the housing body 522 and the connecting portion 571, the operating portion 534 of the release arm 538 is pressed. This causes the pair of elastic arm portions 532 to bend, and the lock arm 531 to come off the protrusion 573. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-191261 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] In the above-mentioned connector fitting structure, there has been a demand for a compact locking mechanism, but simply making the locking mechanism smaller would result in insufficient rigidity, which could lead to a reduction in lock retention force or breakage of the base of the locking arm, making it difficult to make the locking mechanism smaller.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that enables a locking mechanism to be made smaller. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The present invention relates to a connector having a housing body that houses terminals and is adapted to be fitted with a mating housing of a mating connector; This connector has a locking arm that maintains the mating housing and the housing main body in a fitted state by engaging with the mating housing, the locking arm having an arm portion that is connected to the housing main body and extends cantilevered forward toward the mating housing side, and a protrusion formed on the front end side of the arm portion, and the arm portion is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases as it approaches the front end side from the rear end side connected to the housing main body. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, the arm portion is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases from the rear end side connected to the housing body toward the front end side, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the lock arm. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a top view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the connector of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 shows only the housing of FIG. 2. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 6] 1 in a state where the lock arm is bent when the connector in FIG. 1 is mated with the mating connector. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 shows a conventional female connector and male connector (disassembled state). [Figure 8] FIG. 8 shows only the female housing of FIG. 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] A "connector" according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs.

[0015] 1 to 3 and 6 includes two male terminals (not shown) connected to ends of electric wires, a male housing 4 that houses these male terminals, a packing 3, and a packing holder 2. Hereinafter, the connector 1 will be referred to as a male connector 1.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 6, the male connector 1 mates with a mating female connector 8. The female connector 8 includes two female terminals (not shown) and a female housing 9 that houses these female terminals. A locking protrusion 90 is formed on the upper portion of the female housing 9. A locking arm 50, which will be described later, engages with this locking protrusion 90.

[0017] In this specification, the side of the male connector 1 facing the female connector 8 in the mating direction with the female connector 8 is defined as the "front," and the side away from the female connector 8 in the mating direction is defined as the "rear." Also, for convenience of explanation, "upper," "lower," "left," and "right" are expressed based on the orientation of the paper on which the drawings are drawn. These front, rear, upper, lower, left, and right directions do not have to match the actual directions of the male connector 1 in use.

[0018] The male housing 4 is made of insulating synthetic resin. As shown in Figs. 4 to 6, the male housing 4 integrally includes a rectangular tubular housing body 40, a locking mechanism 5 connected to an upper portion of the housing body 40, and a pair of cylindrical terminal holding portions 42 connected to the rear end of the housing body 40.

[0019] The packing 3 is attached to the inside of the housing body 40 and seals between the housing body 40 and the female housing 9. In Fig. 6, the packing 3 is not shown. The packing holder 2 is attached to the inside of the housing body 40 and prevents the packing 3 from falling off. The packing holder 2 is made of insulating synthetic resin. The packing holder 2 integrally includes a rectangular cylindrical holder body 20 and locking claws 21 formed on both side walls and the bottom wall of the holder body 20. A through hole 22 is formed in the top wall of the holder body 20 to position a protrusion 53 described below.

[0020] The housing body 40 accommodates the tip ends of the male terminals inside. The base ends of the male terminals are held in the terminal holding portion 42. The electric wires connected to the base ends of the male terminals are led out from the rear end of the terminal holding portion 42. Locking holes 41 into which the locking claws 21 of the packing holder 2 are respectively locked are formed in both side walls and the bottom wall of the housing body 40. An opening is formed in the top wall of the housing body 40 to allow a locking arm 50 (to be locked by a locking protrusion 90) to function as described below.

[0021] The female housing 9 is inserted into the inside of the housing body 40 and the holder body 20 to fit with the housing body 40. As a result, the tip of the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal, and they are electrically connected. In the fitted state, the locking protrusion 90 of the female housing 9 is positioned inside the housing body 40 and the through hole 22 of the holder body 20. A locking arm 50, which will be described later, engages with this locking protrusion 90, thereby maintaining the fitted state between the female housing 9 and the housing body 40.

[0022] The locking mechanism 5 has a locking arm 50 that maintains the mated state between the female housing 9 and the housing main body 40 by engaging with the locking protrusion 90, a pair of extension portions 54, and a release arm 55 that releases the locked state of the locking arm 50.

[0023] The lock arm 50 has a pair of arm portions 51, a connecting portion 52, and a protrusion portion 53. The pair of arm portions 51 are connected to the housing main body 40 and extend in a cantilever manner forward toward the female housing 9 side and extend parallel to each other. The connecting portion 52 connects the front ends of the pair of arm portions 51 to each other. The protrusion portion 53 protrudes from the lower surface of the connecting portion 52 toward the inside of the housing main body 40.

[0024] Each arm portion 51 is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases from the rear end side connected to the housing main body 40 toward the front end side. That is, as shown in Fig. 3, the thickness T1 of the rear end portion 51a of the arm portion 51 is the largest among the arm portions 51. Also, the thickness T2 of the front end portion 51b of the arm portion 51 is the smallest among the arm portions 51.

[0025] In the conventional lock mechanism 530 shown in FIG. 7, the thickness of the pair of elastic arm portions 532 is uniform over the entire area.

[0026] The pair of extension portions 54 are portions that connect the lock arm 50 and the release arm 55. The pair of extension portions 54 extend from the front ends of the pair of arm portions 51 in directions away from each other.

[0027] The release arm 55 is connected to the pair of extension portions 54, extends rearward, and has a pair of second arm portions 56 disposed on both sides of the pair of arm portions 51, and an operating portion 57 connecting the rear ends of the pair of second arm portions 56. As shown in FIG. 6, by pressing the operating portion 57, the pair of arm portions 51 bend away from the housing main body 40, and the protrusion portion 53 is lifted, and the lock arm 50 disengages from the lock protrusion 90.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 4, a slit-like gap S1 is formed between the pair of arm portions 51. In addition, a slit-like gap S2 is formed between the adjacent arm portion 51 and the second arm portion 56. The gap S2 extends toward the operating portion 57 from behind the rear end of the connecting portion 52 and the rear end 53a (see Fig. 5) of the protruding portion 53. In other words, the front end position of the gap S2 is behind the front end position of the gap S1.

[0029] In the conventional lock mechanism 530 shown in FIG. 8, the gap between adjacent elastic arm portions 532 and support arm portions 533 extends from the front of the rear end of the engaging portion 536 toward the operating portion 534 .

[0030] In the locking mechanism 5 configured as described above, the arm portion 51 is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases from the rear end side connected to the housing main body 40 toward the front end side. This makes it possible to make the arm portion 51 itself more flexible, which prevents stress from concentrating on the base of the arm portion 51, i.e., the rear end portion 51a, when the locking mechanism 5 is released, and allows the stress to be distributed throughout the arm portion 51. Therefore, even if the locking mechanism 5 is made compact, it is possible to prevent the base of the arm portion 51 from breaking.

[0031] In addition, in order to suppress the decrease in the locking force due to the above-mentioned configuration of the arm portion 51, the locking mechanism 5 couples the release arm 55 to the locking arm 50 by a pair of extensions 54, and the positional relationship of the gaps S1 and S2 is as described above. That is, the gap S2 between the arm portion 51 and the second arm portion 56 extends from behind the rear end of the connecting portion 52 and the rear end 53a of the protrusion portion 53 toward the operating portion 57, and the front end position of the gap S2 is behind the front end position of the gap S1. This increases the rigidity of the arm portion 51 and suppresses the decrease in the locking force. In addition, by making the positional relationship of the gaps S1 and S2 as described above, the rigidity of the arm portion 51 and the second arm portion 56 can be combined, and the arm portion 51 and the second arm portion 56 can be individually made smaller. As for the unlocking property, the rigidity of each arm is combined, so that the lock can be easily released.

[0032] The above-described embodiment merely shows a typical form of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be embodied in various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention. As long as the configuration of the present invention is still provided even with such modifications, it is of course included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 Male connector (connector) 2 Packing holder 3. Packing 4 Male Housing 5 Locking mechanism 8 Female connector (mating connector) 9 Female housing (mating housing) 40 Housing body 50 Lock Arm 51 Arm section 52 Connecting part 53 Protrusion 54 Extension section 55 Release Arm 56 Second Arm Section 57 Operation section

Claims

1. a housing body that houses the terminals and that mates with a mating housing of a mating connector; a lock arm that engages with the mating housing to maintain a fitted state between the mating housing and the housing main body, The lock arm has an arm portion connected to the housing main body and extending in a cantilever manner forward toward the mating housing side, and a protrusion portion formed on a front end side of the arm portion, The arm portion is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases from the rear end side connected to the housing body toward the front end side. A connector characterized by:

2. The lock arm has a pair of arm portions extending parallel to each other, a connecting portion connecting front ends of the pair of arm portions, and the protrusion portion protruding from the connecting portion.

2. The connector according to claim 1 .

3. A pair of extension portions extending in directions away from each other from front ends of the pair of arm portions; a release arm that releases the locked state of the lock arm, the release arm includes a pair of second arm portions connected to the pair of extension portions, extending rearward and disposed on both sides of the pair of arm portions, and an operation portion connecting rear ends of the pair of second arm portions to each other, A slit-shaped gap is formed between the arm portion and the second arm portion, and the gap extends from behind the rear end of the connecting portion toward the operating portion.

3. The connector according to claim 2.

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