Housing Unit

Abstract

To provide a housing unit with excellent degree of freedom in the order of mounting a spacer and a lever on a housing when manufacturing a connector.SOLUTION: A housing unit 1 includes a housing 2 capable of accommodating a terminal 6, a spacer 3 to be mounted in the housing 2 so that the spacer 3 can be arranged at a full locking position and a temporary locking position, and a lever 4 which is mounted in the housing 2 so as to cover the spacer 3 and is operated from a temporarily fitted state to a fully fitted state so as to assist fitting with a mating connector 5. The lever 4 has a through-hole 49 penetrating through the lever 4, and a concave portion 48 concaved in a direction away from the spacer 3. The through-hole 49 is arranged at a position where at least a part of the spacer 3 is exposed into the through-hole 49 when the lever 4 is in the fully fitted state, and the concave portion 48 is arranged at a position where it can receive the spacer 3 so that the spacer 3 can be moved from the full locking position to the temporary locking position when the lever 4 is in the fully fitted state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a housing unit including a housing capable of accommodating terminals, a spacer attached to the housing, and a lever that assists mating with a mating connector. [Background technology]

[0002] Lever-type connectors (so-called LIF connectors) equipped with a lever that assists in mating connectors have been proposed. For example, one conventional lever-type connector is equipped with a lever that is rotatably attached to a housing, and when mating, the lever is operated (rotated) from a provisionally mated state to a fully mated state, so that the connector and the mating connector are attracted to each other and mated (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-096107 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, a spacer may be attached to the housing of a lever-type connector for the purpose of detecting whether or not a terminal is in a proper position in the terminal receiving chamber and for the purpose of holding the terminal in a proper position (so-called double locking). The spacer generally allows the terminal to be attached and detached to the terminal receiving chamber when provisionally locked in the housing, and engages with the terminal to hold the terminal in a proper position when fully locked in the housing. Since the spacer has such a function, it may be movably attached to the housing so that it is in a position protruding from the surface of the housing when provisionally locked in the housing, and is in a position completely stored in the housing when fully locked in the housing. In this case, in order to avoid interference between the lever and the spacer that is provisionally locked and protruding from the surface of the housing, the spacer is usually fully locked in the housing without the lever being attached to the housing, and then the lever is attached to the housing. However, such a restriction on the order in which the spacer and the lever are attached to the housing is not preferable from the viewpoint of improving workability during connector manufacturing.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to provide a housing unit which allows excellent freedom in the order in which the spacer and the lever are attached to the housing during connector manufacture. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the housing unit according to the present invention has the following features. [1] A housing capable of accommodating a terminal; a spacer attached to the housing so as to be capable of being positioned at a full locking position for holding the terminal in a regular position within the housing and at a temporary locking position for allowing the terminal to be attached to and detached from the regular position; a lever attached to the housing so as to cover the spacer and adapted to be operated from a provisionally mated state to a fully mated state so as to assist mating with a mating connector, The lever is The lever has a through hole penetrating therethrough and a recess recessed in a direction away from the spacer, The through hole is the spacer is disposed at a position where at least a portion of the spacer is exposed inside the through hole when the lever is in the fully fitted state, The recessed portion is the lever is disposed at a position capable of receiving the spacer so that the spacer can be moved from the final locking position to the provisional locking position when the lever is in the final engagement state, 、 The lever and the spacer are When the lever is in the fully fitted state and the spacer is in the provisionally locked position, an inner wall of the recess of the lever interferes with a part of the spacer, making it impossible for the lever to move from the fully fitted state to the provisionally fitted state. It is a housing unit.

[0007] According to the housing unit having the configuration of [1] above, even after the lever is attached to the housing, the recess of the lever is placed in a position where the spacer can be received by placing the lever in the fully engaged state. When the lever is in this position, the spacer can be moved to fit into the recess, and the spacer can be placed in the temporary locking position without interfering with the lever. If the terminals are accommodated in the housing with the spacer in the temporary locking position, and then the spacer is moved to the fully locking position, a connector in which the terminals are held in the correct position can be manufactured. Of course, the lever may be attached to the housing after the spacer is attached to the housing and the terminals are accommodated. In this way, the terminals can be attached to the housing unit regardless of the order in which the lever and spacer are attached to the housing. Therefore, the housing unit of this configuration has excellent freedom in the order in which the spacer and lever are attached to the housing when manufacturing the connector.

[0008] Furthermore, the housing unit having the above configuration has other effects. Specifically, according to the housing unit having the above configuration, when the spacer is in the provisional locking position (i.e., when the spacer is fitted in the recess of the lever), the recess of the lever and the spacer interfere with each other, so that the lever cannot be shifted from the fully engaged state to the provisionally engaged state. Therefore, the position of the spacer can be detected without relying on visual inspection, depending on whether or not this shifting operation can be performed. Furthermore, the through hole of the lever can be used as an operation hole for inserting a jig or the like for moving the spacer from the fully engaged position to the provisionally engaged position. Compared to the case where the lever is provided with a slit for inserting a jig that is cut out so as to reach the rear edge of the lever, the provision of such a through hole can suppress the loss of strength and rigidity of the lever. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a housing unit that allows a high degree of freedom in the order in which the spacer and the lever are attached to the housing during the manufacture of the connector.

[0010] The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the following description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the housing unit shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lever shown in FIG. [Figure 4] Figure 4(a) is an oblique view of the connector with the spacer in the temporary locking position and the lever in the full mating position, Figure 4(b) is an enlarged view of part A in Figure 4(a), and Figure 4(c) is a cross-sectional view along line BB of Figure 4(b). [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. [Figure 6] Figure 6(a) is an oblique view of the connector when the spacer is moved from the state shown in Figure 4(a) to the final engagement position, Figure 6(b) is an enlarged view of portion D in Figure 6(a), and Figure 6(c) is an E-E cross-sectional view of Figure 6(b). [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8(a) is a perspective view of the connector when the lever is moved from the state shown in FIG. 6(a) to the temporary mating position, and FIG. 8(b) is a top view of part G in FIG. 8(a). [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the connector shown in FIG. 8(a) and a mating connector. [Figure 10] Figure 10(a) is a top view of the connector to explain the procedure for using a jig to move the spacer from the full-locking position to the temporary-locking position, Figure 10(b) is a view corresponding to the HH cross section of Figure 10(a) showing the state of the spacer before it is moved, and Figure 10(c) is a view corresponding to the HH cross section of Figure 10(a) showing the state of the spacer after it is moved. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 2, the housing unit 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 2, a spacer 3 attached to the housing 2, and a lever 4 for assisting mating, which will be described later. Then, as shown in FIG. 4(a) and the like, a terminal 6 and an electric wire 7 are attached to the housing unit 1 to form a connector 10. The lever 4 assists mating of the connector 10 with a mating connector 5 (see FIG. 9) constituting a part of a device K (see FIG. 9). When the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 are mated, the terminal 6 (female terminal, see FIG. 4(a)) of the connector 10 is electrically connected to the mating terminal (male terminal, not shown) of the mating connector 5, and the electric wire 7 (see FIG. 9) connected to the terminal 6 is electrically connected to the circuit (not shown) of the device K connected to the mating terminal.

[0014] Hereinafter, the "front-rear direction", "left-right direction", and "up-down direction" are defined as shown in Figs. 1 to 10. The "front-rear direction", "left-right direction", and "up-down direction" are mutually perpendicular. The front-rear direction coincides with the mating direction of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5. The mating advance side and retreat side are respectively defined as "front" and "rear" for the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 (see Fig. 9). Therefore, the "front" and "rear" directions are opposite for the connector 10 and the mating connector 5. Furthermore, the "rotation direction" of the lever 4 is defined as shown in Figs. 1 and 8(a). The lever 4 is attached to the housing 2 so as to be rotatable between a "full mating position" shown in Fig. 1 and a "provisional mating position" shown in Figs. 8(a) and 9, and the lever 4 moves toward the full mating position by rotating forward in the rotation direction from the provisional mating position.

[0015] First, the mating connector 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the mating connector 5 is a resin molded body, and includes a body 11 that is open forward and elongated in the left-right direction and has a substantially rectangular box shape. A plurality of mating terminals (male terminals, not shown) extending in the front-rear direction are fixed to the rear wall of the body 11 so as to be aligned in the up-down direction and the left-right direction in the internal space of the body 11. When the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 are fitted together, a body 21 (see FIG. 2) of the housing 2, which will be described later, is inserted into the internal space of the body 11. A circuit of a device K is connected to each mating terminal. In FIG. 9, the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 are illustrated so that the connector 10 is upside down and left-right reversed compared to other figures (e.g., FIG. 4 and FIG. 6).

[0016] 9, the inner surfaces (inner surfaces in the vertical direction) of the upper and lower walls of the main body 11 are provided with a pair of engagement grooves 12 that engage with a pair of protrusions 46 of the lever 4, which will be described later. When the lever 4 rotates from the temporary mating position to the full mating position, the protrusions 46 enter the engagement grooves 12, and as the lever 4 rotates, the groove walls of the engagement grooves 12 and the protrusions 46 engage with each other, and the engagement point serves as a pivot point for the lever 4, thereby assisting the mating of the connector 10 with the mating connector 5.

[0017] A lock portion 13 that engages with a lock arm 47 of the lever 4 is provided on the inner surface (left side surface) of the right wall of the main body 11. When the mating of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 is completed, the lock arm 47 engages with the lock portion 13, thereby maintaining the mating state of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5.

[0018] Next, each component constituting the housing unit 1 and the connector 10 will be described in order. First, the housing 2 will be described. The housing 2 is a resin molded body, and includes a main body 21 that is substantially rectangular and elongated in the left-right direction as shown in Fig. 2. The main body 21 has a shape that corresponds to the internal space of the main body 11 of the mating connector 5 (see Fig. 9). The spacer 3 and lever 4 are attached to the main body 21.

[0019] Inside the main body 21, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 22 (see FIG. 5) extending in the front-rear direction are provided so as to be aligned in the up-down and left-right directions in correspondence with the arrangement of a plurality of mating terminals (not shown) of the mating connector 5. A terminal 6 (female terminal, see FIG. 4(a)) having an electric wire 7 connected to its rear end is inserted from the rear side into each terminal accommodating chamber 22 and accommodated therein. A lance 23 extending forward in a cantilever shape is provided in the front region of each terminal accommodating chamber 22 (see FIG. 5). The lance 23 engages with the terminal 6 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 at the correct position, thereby preventing the terminal 6 from slipping out backward and holding the terminal 6 in the correct position (see FIG. 5). That is, the correct position refers to a position in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 where the terminal 6 properly engaged with the lance 23 is positioned (held).

[0020] 2 and 5, a generally rectangular insertion hole 24 for inserting the spacer 3 is formed in the center of the upper surface of the main body 21 in the front-rear direction so as to be recessed downward and extend over generally the entire area in the left-right direction. The insertion hole 24 is located rearward of the lances 23 provided in each terminal accommodating chamber 22. The insertion hole 24 communicates with each terminal accommodating chamber 22 so as to divide a portion of each terminal accommodating chamber 22 in the front-rear direction.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 4(c) and Fig. 6(c), the inner surfaces (inner surfaces in the left-right direction) of both side walls of the housing 2 that define both left-right ends of the insertion hole 24 are provided with a pair of protrusions 25a protruding inward in the left-right direction and a pair of protrusions 25b protruding inward in the left-right direction at positions adjacent to the lower sides of the pair of protrusions 25a. The pair of protrusions 25a and the pair of protrusions 25b cooperate with a pair of ribs 33 (see Fig. 2) of the spacer 3 described later to selectively lock the spacer 3 inserted into the insertion hole 24 at a temporary locking position (see Fig. 4) and a full locking position (see Fig. 6). Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 10(b), a pair of locking pieces 29 are formed at two positions in the left-right direction of the insertion hole 24 that correspond to two jig insertion holes 32 closer to the inside in the left-right direction out of four jig insertion holes 32 (see Fig. 2) of the spacer 3 described later. The pair of locking pieces 29 extend downward from the front and rear edges of the upper end opening of the insertion hole 24 while facing each other in the front-rear direction. A pair of locking projections 29a projecting toward each other are provided at the lower ends of the pair of locking pieces 29. The pair of locking pieces 29 (locking projections 29a) engage with a pair of ribs 34 (see also FIG. 2) described below, thereby serving to auxiliary lock the spacer 3 at the final locking position. Specifically, when the spacer 3 is in the final locking position, in addition to the engagement between the pair of ribs 33 and the pair of projections 25b described above, the auxiliary engagement between the pair of locking pieces 29 and the pair of ribs 34 increases the holding force of the spacer 3 at the final locking position, so that even a spacer 3 having a shape long in the left-right direction can be properly held at the final locking position.

[0022] 2, a pair of shafts 26 protruding outward in the up-down direction are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the main body 21 in correspondence with a pair of holes 43 (described later) of the lever 4. The pair of shafts 26 are inserted into the pair of holes 43 of the lever 4.

[0023] 2, a pair of restricting protrusions 27 protruding outward in the up-down direction are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the main body 21 in correspondence with a pair of elongated holes 44 (described later) of the lever 4. The pair of restricting protrusions 27 are inserted into the pair of elongated holes 44 of the lever 4.

[0024] 2 and 9, a pair of locking projections 28 that protrude outward in the up-down direction are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the main body 21 in correspondence with a pair of locking pieces 45 (described later) of the lever 4. The pair of locking projections 28 function to temporarily fix the lever 4 in the temporary fitting position (see FIG. 8).

[0025] Next, the spacer 3 will be described. The spacer 3 is a resin molded body, and includes a body portion 31 in the form of a generally rectangular flat plate that is long in the left-right direction as shown in Fig. 2. The body portion 31 has a shape that corresponds to the internal space of the insertion hole 24 of the housing 2. The spacer 3 has a function of detecting whether or not the terminal 6 is in the correct position in the terminal accommodating chamber 22, and a function of holding the terminal 6 in the correct position (so-called double locking). These functions will be described in more detail later.

[0026] The main body 31 is provided with terminal accommodating holes 22a penetrating in the front-rear direction so as to be aligned in the up-down and left-right directions in accordance with the arrangement of the multiple terminal accommodating chambers 22 of the housing 2. When the spacer 3 is in the provisionally locked position (see FIG. 5), the terminal accommodating holes 22a are aligned so as to communicate with the terminal accommodating chambers 22 of the housing 2 in the front-rear direction, thereby fulfilling the function of complementing the divided portions of the terminal accommodating chambers 22 caused by the insertion holes 24.

[0027] 2, four jig insertion holes 32 recessed toward the front are formed in the left and right directions at the upper end of the rear surface of the main body 31. The jig insertion holes 32 are used as holes into which the jig 50 is inserted when the spacer 3 is raised from the full locking position (see FIG. 10(b)) to the temporary locking position (see FIG. 10(c)) using the jig 50.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 2, a pair of ribs 33 protruding outward in the left-right direction is provided on both left-right end faces of the main body 31. Furthermore, a pair of front and rear grooves 35 extending in the up-down direction from the lower end of the main body 31 to the vicinity of the lower side of the jig insertion hole 32 are formed in two locations corresponding to two of the four jig insertion holes 32 closer to the inside in the left-right direction in the left-right direction on the front and rear faces of the main body 31, as shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of each groove 35 opens downward. A pair of front and rear ribs 34 protruding outward in the front-back direction from the bottom surface of the groove 35 is formed in the groove 35 at a position slightly lower than the upper end of the pair of front and rear grooves 35 (see Figs. 10(b) and 10(c)).

[0029] The spacer 3 is inserted from above into the insertion hole 24 of the housing 2. The spacer 3 inserted into the insertion hole 24 is selectively locked into a provisional locking position (see FIG. 4(c)) where the pair of ribs 33 are positioned between the pair of projections 25a and the pair of projections 25b and engage with the pair of projections 25a and the pair of projections 25b, and a full locking position (see FIG. 6(c)) where the pair of ribs 33 are adjacent to the lower side of the pair of projections 25b and engage with the pair of projections 25b. Furthermore, when the spacer 3 is in the full locking position, the pair of ribs 34 of the spacer 3 additionally engage with the pair of locking projections 29a, thereby further increasing the force of holding the spacer 3 in the full locking position.

[0030] When the spacer 3 is in the temporary locking position, the upper part of the spacer 3 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the housing 2 (main body 21) as shown in Figures 4(a) to 4(c), and when the spacer 3 is in the full locking position, the entire spacer 3 is located inside the insertion hole 24 as shown in Figures 6(a) to 6(c). In this example, when the spacer 3 is in the full locking position, the upper surface of the spacer 3 is flush with the upper surface of the housing 2 (main body 21).

[0031] When moving the spacer 3 from the temporary locking position to the full locking position, the spacer 3 is pushed down to the full locking position by pressing the upper surface of the spacer 3 downward. Conversely, when moving the spacer 3 from the full locking position to the temporary locking position, as shown in Fig. 10, the tip of a rod-shaped jig 50 is inserted into at least one of the four jig insertion holes 32 of the spacer 3, and the base end side of the jig 50 is tilted downward so that the rear end edge 24a of the insertion hole 24 serves as a fulcrum, thereby lifting the spacer 3 upward to the temporary locking position.

[0032] When the spacer 3 is in the temporary locking position, as described above, the multiple terminal accommodating holes 22a of the spacer 3 communicate with the multiple terminal accommodating chambers 22 of the housing 2 in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 5). This allows the terminal 6 to be attached to and detached from the normal position. When the terminal 6 is in the normal position engaged with the lance 23, the spacer 3 in the temporary locking position can be moved to the normal locking position. On the other hand, when the terminal 6 is in an intermediate insertion position on the way to the normal position, a part of the wall defining the terminal accommodating hole 22a of the spacer 3 interferes with a part of the terminal 6, so that the spacer 3 in the temporary locking position cannot be moved to the normal locking position. In other words, by detecting whether the spacer 3 in the temporary locking position can be moved to the normal locking position, it is possible to detect whether the terminal 6 is in the normal position.

[0033] When the spacer 3 is in the full locking position, as shown in Fig. 7, a part of the wall defining the terminal receiving hole 22a of the spacer 3 interferes with a part of the terminal 6 in the correct position. Therefore, the spacer 3 cooperates with the lance 23 to prevent the terminal 6 from slipping out backward and to hold the terminal 6 in the correct position (double locking).

[0034] Next, the lever 4 will be described. The lever 4 is a resin molded body, and has a substantially U-shaped configuration, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which is composed of a pair of flat plate-like plate portions 41 arranged vertically and facing each other with a gap therebetween, and a connecting portion 42 that connects the right ends of the pair of plate-like portions 41 and extends in the vertical direction. The plate-like portion 41 has a shape that extends in the left-right direction when the lever 4 is in the full mating position (see Fig. 1), and the rear edge of the plate-like portion 41 in the rotation direction extends linearly parallel to the left-right direction when the lever 4 is in the full mating position (see Fig. 1). The lever 4 serves to assist the mating of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5. This will be described later.

[0035] A pair of holes 43 are formed near the extending ends (left ends) of the pair of plate-like parts 41, penetrating in the vertical direction. A pair of long holes 44 are formed in the pair of plate-like parts 41 at positions adjacent to the right side of the pair of holes 43, penetrating in the vertical direction. A pair of locking pieces 45 protruding toward the front side in the rotation direction are formed on the front edge of the base end side (right side) of the pair of plate-like parts 41 in the rotation direction. The locking pieces 45 have a shape that extends parallel to the front-rear direction when the lever 4 is in the temporary fitting position (see FIG. 8). A recess 45a recessed outward in the vertical direction is formed on the inner surface (inner surface in the vertical direction) of each locking piece 45, as shown in FIG. 3.

[0036] A pair of protrusions 46 protruding outward in the vertical direction are formed on the outer surfaces (outer surfaces in the vertical direction) of the extending ends (left ends) of the pair of plate-like portions 41, corresponding to the pair of engagement grooves 12 (see FIG. 9) of the mating connector 5. A lock arm 47 is formed on the outer surface (right side surface) of the connecting portion 42, corresponding to the lock portion 13 (see FIG. 9) of the mating connector 5.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 3, a recess 48 recessed outward in the vertical direction is formed on the inner surface (inner surface in the vertical direction) of the upper plate-shaped portion 41. The recess 48 extends in parallel in the left-right direction and has a shape capable of receiving the upper portion of the spacer 3 when the lever 4 is in the full fitting position. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 10, the upper plate-shaped portion 41 has through holes 49 penetrating in the vertical direction at two locations corresponding to the two right-side jig insertion holes 32 of the four jig insertion holes 32 of the spacer 3. Each through hole 49 communicates with the recess 48 (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 10(a), the leftmost one of the four jig insertion holes 32 is exposed without being covered by the lever 4. Furthermore, an elongated hole 44 of the lever 4 is located at a location corresponding to the second jig insertion hole 32 from the left of the four jig insertion holes 32. The elongated hole 44 communicates with the recess 48 (see FIG. 3).

[0038] The lever 4 is attached to the housing 2 so that the pair of shafts 26 of the housing 2 are inserted into the pair of holes 43 and the pair of regulating protrusions 27 of the housing 2 are inserted into the pair of elongated holes 44. As a result, the lever 4 is rotatable relative to the housing 2 within a range between a full mating position (see FIG. 1) and a temporary mating position (see FIGS. 8(a) and 9). Regardless of the position of the lever 4 in the rotation direction, the upper plate-shaped portion 41 of the lever 4 covers at least a part of the opening of the insertion hole 24 of the housing 2.

[0039] When the lever 4 is in the temporary mating position, as shown in Fig. 8, the protruding ends (front ends) of the pair of locking pieces 45 of the lever 4 are adjacent to the rear sides of the pair of locking protrusions 28 of the housing 2 and engage with the pair of locking protrusions 28, so that the lever 4 is temporarily stopped at the temporary mating position and maintained at the temporary mating position. When the lever 4 rotates from the temporary mating position to the full mating position, the protruding ends of the locking pieces 45 of the lever 4 move forward in Fig. 8(b) and climb over the locking protrusions 28 of the housing 2. When the lever 4 is in the full mating position, the lock arm 47 engages with the lock portion 13 (see Fig. 9) of the mating connector 5, so that the lever 4 is prevented from rotating backward from the full mating position. In addition, when the lever 4 is in the full mating position, a pair of walls 47a (see FIG. 2) arranged to sandwich the lock arm 47 from above and below are arranged adjacent to the protruding portion 21a (see FIG. 2) protruding vertically from the right front end of the housing 2, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 10, etc. As a result, even if the lever 4 attempts to rotate further forward beyond the full mating position, the wall 47a abuts against the protruding portion 21a, thereby suppressing such excessive rotation. In other words, the lever 4 is maintained in the full mating position by suppressing rotation of the lever 4 both forward and backward from the full mating position.

[0040] When the lever 4 is in the temporary mating position, the rear edge in the rotation direction of the pair of plate-like parts 41 of the lever 4 protrudes rearward from the rear end surface of the housing 2 (see FIG. 8(a)). On the other hand, when the lever 4 is in the full mating position, the rear edge in the rotation direction of the pair of plate-like parts 41 of the lever 4 does not protrude rearward from the rear end surface of the housing 2 (see FIG. 1). In this example, the rear edge in the rotation direction of the pair of plate-like parts 41 of the lever 4 and the rear end surface of the housing 2 are flush with each other. Therefore, it is possible to detect whether the lever 4 is in the temporary mating position or the full mating position depending on whether the rear edge in the rotation direction of the lever 4 is located rearward of the rear end surface of the housing 2. Furthermore, as described later, the operation of accommodating the terminal 6 into the housing 2 is performed from the rear side of the housing 2 when the lever 4 is in the full mating position, so that the lever 4 is less likely to interfere with the operation of accommodating the terminal 6.

[0041] When the lever 4 is in the full engagement position (see FIG. 1), the recess 48 (see FIG. 3) on the inner surface of the lever 4 is aligned with the spacer 3 inserted in the insertion hole 24 of the housing 2, and is positioned directly above the spacer 3 (see FIG. 5). Therefore, the recess 48 can receive the upper part of the spacer 3 (the part protruding from the upper surface of the housing 2) in the temporary locking position. The two jig insertion holes 32 on the right side of the four jig insertion holes 32 are exposed upward through the corresponding through holes 49. The jig insertion hole 32 located on the leftmost side of the four jig insertion holes 32 is exposed upward without being covered by the lever 4. The second jig insertion hole 32 from the left of the four jig insertion holes 32 is exposed upward through the long hole 44 of the lever 4.

[0042] Therefore, when the lever 4 is in the full engagement position, as shown in Fig. 10, the tip of a rod-shaped jig 50 is inserted into the four jig insertion holes 32 via the through hole 49 or the long hole 44 or without the through hole 49 or the long hole 44, and the jig 50 is operated as described above, so that the spacer 3 in the full engagement position can be lifted up to the provisional engagement position. An operation of inserting one jig 50 into the four jig insertion holes 32 in order to lift up the spacer 3 may be repeated, or an operation of inserting four jigs 50 into each of the four jig insertion holes 32 to lift up the spacer 3 at once may be performed. In this way, the through hole 49 and the long hole 44 are located in communication with the recess 48, and thus function as an operation hole for inserting the jig 50.

[0043] Furthermore, by pressing downward the left end of the upper surface of the spacer 3 that is not covered by the lever 4 and the portions exposed upward through the through hole 49 and the long hole 44, the spacer 3 can be pushed down from the provisional locking position to the full locking position. In this way, the through hole 49 and the long hole 44 are located in communication with the recess 48, and therefore also function to improve the reliability of the operation of pushing the spacer 3 down to the full locking position.

[0044] As described above, when the lever 4 is in the full engagement position, the spacer 3 inserted in the insertion hole 24 can be moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, or from the final locking position to the temporary locking position, even though the lever 4 covers the insertion hole 24. Therefore, when the lever 4 is in the full engagement position, the spacer 3 can be placed in the temporary locking position, the terminal 6 can be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 22 to its normal position, and then the spacer 3 can be moved to the final locking position.

[0045] When the lever 4 is in the full engagement position and the spacer 3 is in the temporary locking position, the inner wall of the recess 48 of the lever 4 and the upper part of the spacer 3 (the part protruding from the upper surface of the housing 2) protruding from the upper surface of the housing 2 interfere with each other, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the lever 4 cannot be rotated from the full engagement position to the temporary engagement position. On the other hand, when the lever 4 is in the full engagement position and the spacer 3 is in the full locking position, the upper surface of the housing 2 and the upper part of the spacer 3 are flush with each other, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the inner wall of the recess 48 of the lever 4 and the upper part of the spacer 3 do not interfere with each other, so that the lever 4 can be rotated from the full engagement position to the temporary engagement position. That is, by detecting whether the lever 4 in the full engagement position can be rotated to the temporary engagement position, it is possible to detect whether the spacer 3 is in the full locking position (for example, whether the spacer 3 has been forgotten to be moved to the full locking position). This prevents the spacer 3 from being forgotten to be moved to the full locking position, and allows the terminal 6 to be securely held in the correct position (double locking).

[0046] 8(a) and 9, when the lever 4 is in the temporary engagement position, the upper plate-like portion 41 covers a part of the insertion hole 24, and the recess 48, the through hole 49, and the long hole 44 are not aligned with the spacer 3 inserted in the insertion hole 24. Therefore, by having the lever 4 in the temporary engagement position, it is possible to prevent the spacer 3, which is in the full locking position, from unintentionally moving to the temporary locking position.

[0047] Next, a series of steps from assembling the housing unit 1 to mating the connector 10 with the mating connector 5 will be described. First, the spacer 3 is assembled to the housing 2, and the spacer 3 is arranged in the main locking position. Next, the lever 4 is assembled to the housing 2, and the lever 4 is arranged in the main mating position. In this way, the housing unit 1 is obtained.

[0048] If necessary, after assembling the housing unit 1, the spacer 3 may be placed in the full locking position and the lever 4 in the temporary engagement position until the terminal 6, which will be described later, is inserted, thereby preventing the spacer 3 from moving unintentionally to the temporary locking position, as described above. However, the spacer 3 and the lever 4 do not necessarily need to be placed in this manner, and the spacer 3 may be placed in the partial locking position and the lever 4 in the full engagement position.

[0049] Next, the terminals 6 are inserted into the housing unit 1 in the pre-insertion state, thereby obtaining the connector 10. Specifically, the spacer 3 is moved from the full locking position to the provisional locking position using the jig 50 (see FIG. 10). As a result, the plurality of terminals 6 are accommodated in the housing 2 of the housing unit 1 with the spacer 3 in the provisional locking position and the lever 4 in the full mating position. That is, the plurality of terminals 6 connected to the rear ends of the electric wires 7 are inserted from the rear side into the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 22 of the housing 2 to the correct positions. At this time, since the lever 4 is in the full mating position (that is, the rear edges in the rotation direction of the pair of plate-like portions 41 do not protrude rearward from the rear end surface of the housing 2), the accommodation operation of the terminals 6 is unlikely to be hindered by the lever 4, as described above.

[0050] 6 and 7, the upper surface of the spacer 3 is pressed down to move the spacer 3 to the full locking position. At this time, as described above, by detecting the movement of the spacer 3 from the partial locking position to the full locking position, it is possible to detect that the terminal 6 is in the correct position and that the terminal 6 is doubly locked.

[0051] 8, the connecting portion 42 of the lever 4 is operated to move the lever 4 from the full-fitting position to the temporary-fitting position. At this time, by detecting the movement of the lever 4 to the temporary-fitting position, it is possible to detect that the spacer 3 has not been forgotten to be moved to the full-locking position (i.e., the terminal 6 in the correct position has been doubly locked). Furthermore, by having the lever 4 in the temporary-fitting position, it is possible to prevent the spacer 3 from being moved from the full-locking position to the temporary-locking position unintentionally, as described above.

[0052] Thereafter, the connector 10 is mated with the mating connector 5. An outline of this will be given below.

[0053] 9, the housing 2 of the connector 10 with the lever 4 in the temporary mating position is mated with the mating connector 5 housing a plurality of mating terminals (not shown) connected to the circuit of the device K. First, the front faces of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 are placed opposite each other, and the housing 2 (main body 21) of the connector 10 is inserted into the internal space of the mating connector 5 (main body 11) up to the mating start position.

[0054] When the housing 2 of the connector 10 is inserted to the mating start position, the pair of protrusions 46 of the lever 4 at the temporary mating position enter into the pair of engagement grooves 12 of the mating connector 5. Thereafter, the lever 4 is rotated from the temporary mating position to the full mating position. As a result, the protrusions 46 engage with the groove walls around the bent portion 12a of the engagement groove 12, and the groove walls exert a reaction force against the protrusions 46, so that the connector 10 is pulled forward (i.e., toward the back of the main body 11 of the mating connector 5) as the lever 4 rotates. That is, the engagement point between the protrusions 46 and the groove walls of the engagement groove 12 serves as a pivot point for the lever 4. In this way, the mating of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 is assisted by rotating the lever 4 from the temporary mating position to the full mating position.

[0055] When the lever 4 reaches the full mating position, the lock arm 47 of the lever 4 engages with the lock portion 13 of the mating connector 5, and the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 enter a mating complete state. In the mating complete state, the multiple terminals 6 of the connector 10 and the multiple mating terminals of the mating connector 5 are electrically connected, so that the multiple electric wires 7 connected to the multiple terminals 6 are electrically connected to the circuit of the device K connected to the multiple mating terminals.

[0056] In the mating complete state, the rear edges in the rotation direction of the pair of plate-like portions 41 of the lever 4 in the full mating position are flush with the rear end face of the housing 2 and the front end face of the mating connector 5. This makes it easy to confirm that the mating between the connector 10 and the mating connector 5 is complete.

[0057] In the above description, the lever 4 is already attached to the housing 2 before the terminals 6 are inserted and the spacer 3 is subsequently moved from the provisional locking position to the full locking position, at a stage prior to mating of the connector 10 and the mating connector 5. Alternatively, the lever 4 may be attached to the housing 2 for the first time after the terminals 6 are inserted and the spacer 3 is subsequently moved from the provisional locking position to the full locking position. In this way, the housing unit 1 offers excellent flexibility in the order in which the spacer 3 and the lever 4 are attached.

[0058] <Actions and Effects> As described above, according to the housing unit 1 of this embodiment, even after the lever 4 is attached to the housing 2, the recess 48 of the lever 4 and the spacer 3 are aligned by putting the lever 4 in the fully fitted state. When the lever 4 is in this position, the spacer 3 can be placed in the temporary locking position without interfering with the lever 4. If the terminal 6 is accommodated in the housing 2 with the spacer 3 in the temporary locking position, and then the spacer 3 is moved to the fully locked position, the connector 10 in which the terminal 6 is held in the correct position can be manufactured. Of course, the lever 4 may be attached to the housing 2 after the attachment of the spacer 3 to the housing 2 and the accommodation of the terminal 6 are completed. In this way, the terminal 6 can be attached to the housing unit 1 regardless of the order of attachment of the lever 4 and the spacer 3 to the housing 2. Therefore, the housing unit 1 of this configuration has excellent freedom in the order of attachment of the spacer 3 and the lever 4 to the housing 2 when manufacturing the connector 10.

[0059] Furthermore, according to the housing unit 1, the through hole 49 and the long hole 44 of the lever 4 can be used as an operation hole for inserting a jig 50 for moving the spacer 3 to the temporary locking position. Compared to a case where a slit for inserting a jig is provided in the lever 4 (plate-shaped portion 41) that is cut out so as to reach the rear edge, providing the through hole 49 and the long hole 44 can prevent the strength and rigidity of the lever 4 from being impaired.

[0060] Furthermore, according to the housing unit 1, when the spacer 3 is in the provisionally locked position (i.e., when the spacer 3 is fitted in the recess 48 of the lever 4), the recess 48 of the lever 4 interferes with the spacer 3, so the lever 4 cannot be shifted from the fully fitted state to the provisionally fitted state. Therefore, the position of the spacer 3 can be detected without visual inspection, depending on whether or not this shifting operation is possible.

[0061] Furthermore, when the lever 4 is in the provisionally engaged state, the through hole 49, the long hole 44, and the recess 48 of the lever 4 are not aligned with the spacer 3. Therefore, by placing the lever 4 in the provisionally engaged state, it is possible to prevent the spacer 3 from unintentionally moving from the full locking position to the provisional locking position.

[0062] <Other forms> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications, improvements, etc. are possible. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

[0063] In the above embodiment, the through holes 49 are formed in two locations on the upper plate-shaped portion 41 of the lever 4 that correspond to the two jig insertion holes 32 on the right side of the spacer 3. In contrast, the through hole 49 may be formed in only one of the two locations on the upper plate-shaped portion 41 of the lever 4 that correspond to the two jig insertion holes 32 on the right side. In this case, the jig insertion hole 32 on the side where the through hole 49 is not formed, out of the two jig insertion holes 32 on the right side, does not need to be formed.

[0064] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the lever 4 has a substantially U-shape made up of a pair of upper and lower plate-shaped portions 41 and the connecting portion 42. In contrast, the lever 4 may have a substantially L-shape made up of the upper plate-shaped portion 41 and the connecting portion 42, or may have a linear (flat) shape made up of only the plate-shaped portion 41.

[0065] Here, the features of the above-described embodiment of the housing unit 1 according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [2]. [1] A housing (2) capable of accommodating a terminal (6); a spacer (3) attached to the housing (2) so as to be capable of being positioned at a full locking position in which the terminal (6) is held in a regular position within the housing (2) and at a temporary locking position in which the terminal (6) can be attached to and detached from the regular position; a lever (4) attached to the housing (2) so as to cover the spacer (3) and which is operated from a provisionally mated state to a fully mated state so as to assist mating with a mating connector (5), The lever (4) is The lever (4) has a through hole (49) penetrating therethrough and a recess (48) recessed in a direction away from the spacer (3), The through hole (49) is the spacer (3) is disposed at a position where at least a portion of the spacer (3) is exposed inside the through hole (49) when the lever (4) is in the fully fitted state; The recess (48) is the lever (4) is disposed at a position capable of receiving the spacer (3) so that the spacer (3) can be moved from the final locking position to the provisional locking position when the lever (4) is in the final engagement state; Housing unit(1). [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 1 Housing Unit 2. Housing 3 Spacer 4 Lever 5 Mating Connector 6 Terminals 10 Connectors 48 Recess 49 Through hole

Claims

[Claim 1] A housing capable of accommodating a terminal; a spacer attached to the housing so as to be capable of being positioned at a full locking position for holding the terminal in a regular position within the housing and at a temporary locking position for allowing the terminal to be attached to and detached from the regular position; a lever attached to the housing so as to cover the spacer and adapted to be operated from a provisionally mated state to a fully mated state so as to assist mating with a mating connector, The lever is The lever has a through hole penetrating therethrough and a recess recessed in a direction away from the spacer, The through hole is the spacer is disposed at a position where at least a portion of the spacer is exposed inside the through hole when the lever is in the fully fitted state, The recessed portion is the spacer is disposed at a position capable of receiving the spacer so that the spacer can be moved from the final locking position to the provisional locking position when the lever is in the final fitting state, The lever and the spacer are When the lever is in the fully fitted state and the spacer is in the provisionally locked position, an inner wall of the recess of the lever interferes with a part of the spacer, making it impossible for the lever to move from the fully fitted state to the provisionally fitted state. Housing unit.

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