The present disclosure relates to a connector.
A connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a housing, terminals and a front holder (hereinafter, referred to as a retainer). The housing includes a plurality of terminal accommodation chambers for accommodating the terminals. The retainer is arranged movably to a partial locking position and a full locking position with respect to the housing. The retainer includes a partial locking arm for locking a partial locking portion of the housing at the partial locking position and a full locking arm for locking a full locking portion of the housing at the full locking position. The retainer includes a disengaging projection on a tip side in a length direction of the full locking arm. The housing includes a rib having an L-shaped cross-section at a position corresponding to the disengaging projection. In removing the retainer, a tip part of a releasing jig is guided by the rib and hooked to the disengaging projection. In that state, the releasing jig is pulled out and the retainer is moved from the full locking position to the partial locking position. Note that a configuration in which a retainer is arranged movably between a partial locking position and a full locking position with respect to a housing is also disclosed in Patent Document 2.
Patent Document 1: JP H10-308249 A
Patent Document 2: JP 2016-081832 A
In Patent Document 1, the rib for guiding the releasing jig and the disengaging projection to be engaged with the releasing jig are respectively formed by specially processing the housing and the retainer. Thus, there has been a problem that the structures of the housing and the retainer are complicated.
Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to provide a connector enabling an unlocking operation of a retainer without complicating a structure.
The present disclosure is directed to a connector with a housing, terminal fittings and a retainer, wherein the housing includes a plurality of cavities, a first lock receiving portion arranged to correspond to one cavity and a second lock receiving portion arranged to correspond to another cavity, the terminal fittings are arranged in the cavities, the retainer is arranged in the housing to restrict the terminal fittings from coming out from the cavities and includes a deflectable and deformable deflecting piece, the deflecting piece includes a first locking portion for locking the first lock receiving portion, a second locking portion for locking the second lock receiving portion and a slit arranged between the first and second locking portions, and the slit is open in a separating direction of the retainer from the housing.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a connector enabling an unlocking operation of a retainer without complicating a structure.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure are listed and described.
(1) The connector of the present disclosure is provided with a housing, terminal fittings and a retainer, wherein the housing includes a plurality of cavities, a first lock receiving portion arranged to correspond to one cavity and a second lock receiving portion arranged to correspond to another cavity, the terminal fittings are arranged in the cavities, the retainer is arranged in the housing to restrict the terminal fittings from coming out from the cavities and includes a deflectable and deformable deflecting piece, the deflecting piece includes a first locking portion for locking the first lock receiving portion, a second locking portion for locking the second lock receiving portion and a slit arranged between the first and second locking portions, and the slit is open in a separating direction of the retainer from the housing. According to this configuration, in releasing locking of the first locking portion and the second lock receiving portion and locking of the second locking portion and the second lock receiving portion, a releasing operation can be performed by inserting a releasing jig into the slit from an opening. The slit divides the deflecting piece into a region including the first locking portion and a region including the second locking portion, and fulfills a function of smoothly deflecting and deforming the respective regions. Since the slit for smoothing the deflection of the deflecting piece can be used as an insertion path for the releasing jig according to the present disclosure as just described, an unlocking operation of the retainer can be performed without complicating a structure.
(2) Preferably, the retainer includes a groove continuous with the slit in the separating direction, and the groove is arranged between a pair of wall portions extending in parallel along the separating direction. According to this configuration, the releasing jig can be inserted into the groove between the pair of wall portions and the pair of wall portions can be used as a guide for guiding the releasing jig. As a result, an inserting operation of the releasing jig can be more easily and efficiently performed.
(3) The deflecting piece may include end slits on both lateral end parts across the first and second locking portions in a width direction orthogonal to the separating direction, and an opening width of the slit may be larger than those of the end slits. According to this configuration, since the region including the first locking portion and the region including the second locking portion in the deflecting piece are arranged between the end slits and the slit, the respective regions can be more smoothly deflected and deformed. Further, if the releasing jig is configured to be inserted into the slit having a large opening width, the strength of the releasing jig is easily ensured.
(4) The retainer may include a step portion at a position adjacent to the deflecting piece and the slit may penetrate from a facing surface on the side of the deflecting piece to an opposite surface of the step portion. According to this configuration, the locking of the first locking portion and the first lock receiving portion or the locking of the second locking portion and the second lock receiving portion can be released by inserting the releasing jig into the slit and turning the releasing jig and moving the releasing jig in the separating direction with a tip part of the releasing jig abutting on the facing surface of the step portion. Since the releasing jig does not contact locking structures such as the first locking portion, the first lock receiving portion, the second locking portion and the second lock receiving portion, the damage of the locking structures can be avoided. It is also possible to avoid the damage of a sealing surface of the housing by the tip of the jig.
A specific example of a connector of the present disclosure is described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these illustrations and is intended to be represented by claims and include all changes in the scope of claims and in the meaning and scope of equivalents.
A connector of this embodiment includes, as shown in
The mating housing 90 is made of synthetic resin and, as shown in
The housing 10 is made of synthetic resin and includes, as shown in
The housing body 12 includes a plurality of cavities 14. A pair of the cavities 14 penetrate in the front-rear direction in the housing body 12 and are arranged side by side in a width direction (lateral direction in
As shown in
As shown in
The radial dimension in the vertical direction of the rear part of each cavity 14 is larger than that of a front part of each cavity 14. As shown in
As shown in
The housing body 12 includes a locking groove 18 in the inner lower surface (lower surface of an inner wall) of each cavity 14. As shown in
As shown in
The first and second lock receiving portions 21, 22 are slopes inclined upward toward a rear side and formed over the entire height in the vertical direction (thickness direction) in the lower wall of the cavity tower portion 16 (see
The housing body 12 includes a first abutting portion 23 and a second abutting portion 24 in lower parts of opening edges of the respective cavities 14 in the front surface of the cavity tower portion 16. As shown in
The first and second abutting portions 23, 24 are slopes inclined downward toward the rear side and formed on back ends recessed from surroundings in the lower part of the front surface of the cavity tower portion 16 (see
The terminal fitting 50 is made of electrically conductive metal and formed into a shape elongated in the front-rear direction by bending a metal plate. As shown in
The retainer 60 is made of synthetic resin and, as shown in
The retainer 60 includes a step portion 63 along the vertical direction between the front end of the inserting tube portion 61 and the rear end of the fitting tube portion 62. As shown in
As shown in
The inserting tube portion 61 includes a restricting portion 67 on an upper wall. As shown in
The lower wall of the inserting tube portion 61 is configured as a deflectable and deformable deflecting piece 71 in the form of a flat plate. As shown in
Further, the slit 72 extends from the deflecting piece 71 to the step portion 63. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Each end slit 75 penetrates through the deflecting piece 71 in the thickness direction (vertical direction). Each end slit 75 has a semicircular closed rear end in the rear part of the deflecting piece 71. Each end slit 75 extends from the deflecting piece 71 to the step portion 63. The front end of the slit 72 is open in the opposite surface 65 of the step portion 63. As shown in
As shown in
The retainer 60 is inserted into the receptacle 11 from front. At this time, the fitting tube portion 62 slides on the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 11, whereby the insertion of the retainer 60 is guided. The inserting tube portion 61 is inserted into the insertion space 66 formed between the cavity tower portion 16 and the receptacle 11 and the deflecting piece 71 is arranged along a lower surface side of the cavity tower portion 16.
Immediately before the retainer 60 reaches the partial locking position, the rear surface of the second locking portion 74 slides against the second abutting portion 24 and the deflecting piece 71 is deflected and deformed downward with the side of the step portion 63 as a fulcrum. If the retainer 60 reaches the partial locking position, the deflecting piece 71 resiliently returns and, as shown in
With the retainer 60 located at the partial locking position, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into each cavity 14 of the housing body 12. If the terminal fitting 50 is properly inserted into the cavity 14, the front end part of the locking lance 17 is hooked and locked to an opening part of the body portion 53. In this way, the terminal fitting 50 is primarily retained and held in the housing 10.
Subsequently, the retainer 60 is moved from the partial locking position to the full locking position. If a pushing force to the full locking position is applied to the retainer 60, the first locking portion 73 slides against the first abutting portion 23, a locked state of the first locking portion 73 and the first abutting portion 23 is released and the deflecting piece 71 is deflected and deformed downward with the side of the step portion 63 as a fulcrum. If the retainer 60 reaches the full locking position, the deflecting piece 71 resiliently returns and, as shown in
Further, if the retainer 60 reaches the full locking position, the rear end part of the restricting portion 67 enters the deflection space 68 and the terminal fittings 50 are secondarily retained and held in the housing 10 as shown in
In removing the terminal fitting 50 from the housing 10 according to a situation such as maintenance, the retainer 60 is returned from the full locking position to the partial locking position. At this time, the releasing jig 80 including a jig body 81 shown in
The jig body 81 is inserted into the groove 77 of the fitting tube portion 62 from front and further inserted into the slit 72 while being guided by the respective wall portions 76. The jig body 81 is turned about an axis with a rear part thereof inserted in the slit 72. In this way, as shown in
By deflecting the locking lance 17 by an unillustrated other terminal withdrawal jig or the like and pulling the wire 40 rearward while pinching the wire 40 with the retainer 60 located at the partial locking position, the terminal fitting 50 can be pulled out from the cavity 14 of the housing 10.
If a forward movement of the jig body 81 is continued, the second locking portion 74 also reaches the front surface side of the cavity tower portion 16 beyond the second lock receiving portion 22 and the retainer 60 can be separated forward from the housing 10.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the slit 72 is arranged between the first and second locking portions 73, 74 in the deflecting piece 71 and open forward (separating direction of the retainer 60 from the housing 10) of the retainer 60. Thus, the jig body 81 of the releasing jig 80 can be inserted into the slit 72 from front of the retainer 60 and a locked state (partially locked state and fully locked state) of the retainer 60 in the housing 10 can be released. Since the slit 72 has a function of making the deflecting piece 71 deflectable and deformable and a function of enabling a releasing operation of the releasing jig 80, the structure of the retainer 60 is not complicated.
Further, since the hooking portion 82 of the releasing jig 80 does not contact the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 11 and the damage of the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 11 can be avoided, the sealing member 95 can be satisfactorily held in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 11 and sealability can be maintained.
Further, since the retainer 60 includes the groove 77 continuous with the slit 72 and the groove 77 is arranged between the pair of wall portions 76, the jig body 81 of the releasing jig 80 can be inserted into the groove 77 and the respective wall portions 76 can be used as a guide for guiding the jig body 81. As a result, an inserting operation of the releasing jig 80 can be more easily and efficiently performed.
Further, since the deflecting piece 71 includes the end slits 75 on the both widthwise sides across the first and second locking portions 73, 74 and the opening width of the slit 72 is larger than those of the end slits 75, the strength of the jig body 81 of the releasing jig 80 is easily ensured.
Further, since the retainer 60 includes the step portion 63 at the position adjacent to the deflecting piece 71 and the slit 72 penetrates from the facing surface 64 to the opposite surface 65 of the step portion 63, the locked state of the first locking portion 73 and the first lock receiving portion 21 and the locked state of the second locking portion 74 and the second lock receiving portion 22 can be released by hooking the hooking portion 82 of the jig body 81 to the facing surface 64 of the step portion 63 and moving the jig body 81 forward. Thus, the releasing jig 80 can be prevented from contacting locking structures such as the first locking portion 73, the first lock receiving portion 21, the second locking portion 74 and the second lock receiving portion 22, and the damage of the locking structures can be avoided. It is also possible to avoid the damage of a sealing surface (inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 11 to be held in close contact with the sealing member 95) of the housing 10 by the tip of the releasing jig 80.
The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered illustrative in all aspects, rather than restrictive.
In the case of the embodiment, the first locking portion and the first lock receiving portion are provided as a full locking structure for restricting a movement of the retainer from the full locking position to the partial locking position and the second locking portion and the second lock receiving portion are provided as a partial locking structure for restricting forward separation of the retainer from the partial locking position. However, as another embodiment, the retainer may not have the partial locking structure and any of the first locking portion, the first lock receiving portion, the second locking portion and the second lock receiving portion may constitute the full locking structure.
Although the rear end of the slit is closed in the rear part of the deflecting piece in the case of the embodiment, the rear end of the slit may be open in the rear end of the deflecting piece as another embodiment.
Although the retainer includes the fitting tube portion to be fit into the receptacle in the case of the embodiment, the retainer may not include the fitting tube portion as another embodiment.
10 . . . housing
11 . . . receptacle
12 . . . housing body
13 . . . mounting portion
14 . . . cavity
15 . . . sealing tower portion
16 . . . cavity tower portion
17 . . . locking lance
18 . . . locking groove
21 . . . first lock receiving portion
22 . . . second lock receiving portion
23 . . . first abutting portion
24 . . . second abutting portion
40 . . . wire
50 . . . terminal fitting
51 . . . tab portion
52 . . . barrel portion
53 . . . body portion
55 . . . rubber plug
60 . . . retainer
61 . . . inserting tube portion
62 . . . fitting tube portion
63 . . . step portion
64 . . . facing surface
65 . . . opposite surface
66 . . . insertion space
67 . . . restricting portion
68 . . . deflection space
71 . . . deflecting piece
72 . . . slit
73 . . . first locking portion
74 . . . second locking portion
75 . . . end slit
76 . . . wall portion
77 . . . groove
80 . . . releasing jig
81 . . . jig body
82 . . . hooking portion
90 . . . mating housing
95 . . . sealing member
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2020-032893 | Feb 2020 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2021/004480 | 2/8/2021 | WO |