JP-7856138-B2 - connector

Inventors

• 西谷 章弘
• 牧野 健司

Assignees

• 株式会社オートネットワーク技術研究所
• 住友電装株式会社
• 住友電気工業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20241225

Claims (7)

1. A male housing having a hood section, A female housing that fits with the male housing, The female housing is formed with an elastically deformable locking arm, The lock arm has a cantilevered shape that extends from its base end, which is connected to the female housing, to the rear in the direction of fitting with the male housing. The lock arm has a pair of locking portions arranged in a width direction that intersects the fitting direction of the male housing and the female housing, During the fitting process between the male housing and the female housing, the lock arm undergoes elastic deformation due to interference between the locking portion and the hood portion. When the male housing and the female housing reach the normal mating state, the lock arm elastically returns to its original position and locks the male housing and the female housing into the mating state. The lock arm and the hood portion are formed with a collision surface that produces a fitting sound when the lock arm returns to its elastic position. The collision surface is located in only one place in the width direction, including the region between the pair of locking parts. A pair of reinforcing ribs are formed on both side edges of the lock arm, projecting in a direction parallel to the elastic deformation direction of the lock arm and extending elongated in the direction of fitting between the male housing and the female housing. A projection is formed on the outer surface of the lock arm on which the collision surface is formed, extending from the base end to the collision surface. A connector in which the pair of locking parts are connected to the pair of reinforcing ribs and the protrusions .
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the collision surface has a stepped shape that protrudes from the region adjacent to the collision surface.
3. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the female housing and the hood portion are formed with restricting portions that restrict the deformation of the hood portion in a direction away from the lock arm.
4. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reinforcing rib extends from the base end toward the rear in the fitting direction .
5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the reinforcing rib extends to the same region as the area where the collision surface is formed in the mating direction of the male housing and the female housing .
6. The hood portion is formed with a pair of protruding receiving portions that engage with the pair of locking portions. The pair of reinforcing ribs extend from the base end toward the rear in the fitting direction, The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a pair of guide grooves are formed between the protrusion and the pair of reinforcing ribs to guide the receiving portion during the fitting process of the male housing and the female housing .
7. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein widened portions are formed on both outer surfaces of the lock arm, protruding from the same region as the area where the collision surface is formed in the fitting direction of the male housing and the female housing.

Description

This disclosure relates to connectors. Patent Document 1 discloses a connector in which a connector housing having a second locking portion is fitted with a mating connector housing, and the raised projection of the second locking portion is inserted into the mating hole of the mating connector housing, thereby locking the connector housing and the mating connector housing in a mated state. During the mating process between the connector housing and the mating connector housing, the second locking portion undergoes elastic deformation due to contact between the raised projection and the mating connector housing. When the connector housing and the mating connector housing are mated, the second locking portion strikes the mating connector housing due to its elastic restoring force, producing a mating sound. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-199747 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the female connector, seen from diagonally upwards and in front.Figure 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the male connector, seen from a diagonal downward and forward angle.Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the locking portion cut perpendicular to the width direction during the mating process of both connectors.Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the collision surface, cut perpendicular to the width direction, during the mating process of both connectors.Figure 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the locking portion cut perpendicular to the width direction, with both connectors in the properly mated state.Figure 6 is a side cross-sectional view taken with the collision surface cut perpendicular to the width direction, with both connectors in the properly mated state. [Description of Embodiments in this Disclosure] First, embodiments of this disclosure will be listed and described. The connector disclosed herein is (1) The device comprises a male housing having a hood portion, a female housing that fits with the male housing, and an elastically deformable lock arm formed on the female housing, wherein the lock arm has a pair of lock portions arranged in the width direction intersecting the fitting direction of the male housing and the female housing, and during the fitting process of the male housing and the female housing, the lock arm is elastically deformed by the interference of the lock portions and the hood portion, and when the male housing and the female housing reach a properly fitted state, the lock arm elastically returns to its original position and locks the male housing and the female housing into the fitted state, and the lock arm and the hood portion have collision surfaces that produce a fitting sound when the lock arm elastically returns to its original position, and the collision surface is located in only one place in the width direction, including the region between the pair of lock portions. According to the configuration of this disclosure, since the collision surface is located in only one place, including the region between the pair of locking parts, even if the male housing and female housing are mated with the locking arm tilted, a mating sound can be reliably generated in the same way as when the locking arm is not tilted. (2) Preferably, the impact surface has a stepped shape that protrudes from the area adjacent to the impact surface. This configuration ensures that only the impact surface can be reliably struck. (3) Preferably, the female housing and the hood portion are formed with restricting portions that restrict the deformation of the hood portion in a direction away from the lock arm. With this configuration, the collision energy when the collision surfaces collide is not attenuated, thus enabling the generation of a loud fitting noise. (4) The lock arm has a cantilevered shape extending from its base end, which is connected to the female housing, to the rear in the direction of mating with the male housing. Preferably, a projection is formed on the outer surface of the lock arm where the impact surface is formed, extending from the base end to the impact surface. With this configuration, the region of the lock arm from the impact surface to the base end has a larger thickness and higher rigidity due to the projection. This increases the elastic restoring force when the lock arm undergoes elastic deformation, allowing for the generation of a louder mating sound. (5) Preferably, the lock arm has a cantilevered shape extending from its base end, which is connected to the female housing, to the rear in the fitting direction with respect to the male housing. Reinforcing ribs are formed on both side edges of the lock arm, projecting in a direction parallel to the elastic deformation direction of the lock arm and extending from the base end to the rear in the fitting direction. With this configuration, the rigidity of the lock arm is increased by the reinforcing ribs, resulting in a large elastic restoring force when the lock arm undergoes elastic deformation, which can gen