Patent Publication Number: US-8968038-B2

Title: Connector apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to a connector apparatus. 
     A surface mounting technology (SMT) connector (a board mounting connector) may be mounted in an electronic apparatus such as ECU (Electro Control Unit). There is a known connector including a first housing having a terminal locking lance which makes a primarily lock for a terminal, and a second housing, which is mounted to the first housing from a direction orthogonal to the terminal inserting direction to make a secondarily lock to the terminal (refer to JP-A-2008-171626 and JP-A-2010-129177, for example). 
     A connector  501  disclosed in JP-A-2008-171626 includes an inner housing  503  made of synthetic resign, and an outer housing  505  made of synthetic resign, as shown in  FIG. 8 . The inner housing  503  has a substantially box-shape, and is provided with a fitting groove  507 , a lock arm  509 , a pair of left and right side surfaces, a guide projection  513 , and a final locking projection  515 . The fitting groove  507  extends in an orthogonal direction Y 3  orthogonal to a plane including a terminal inserting direction Y 1  and a housing mounting direction Y 2 , and fits with a spacer  517  (a retainer) of an outer housing  505 . The guide projection  513  is provided along the housing mounting direction Y 2  so as to slidably fit in a guide groove  519  of the outer housing  505  with extending in the housing mounting direction Y 2 . The outer housing  505  is formed in one unit with a bottom cover  521 , a front unit  523 , a pair of side covers  525 , a guide groove  519 , a swollen part  527 , and a spacer  517  as described above. 
     When mounting the connector  501 , firstly, slide the outer housing  505  in the housing mounting direction Y 2  with fitting the guide projection  513  along the guide groove  519 , and fix it at a temporary locking position of the inner housing  503 . At this timing, the spacer  517  is inserted into the fitting groove  507  of the inner housing  503 . Then, insert a female terminal (not-shown) into a female terminal insertion hole  529  in the terminal inserting direction Y 1 . When the female terminal is completely inserted into a terminal receiving chamber  531 , a terminal locking lance temporarily locks a lance locking step portion, and the female terminal is housed and held in the terminal receiving chamber  531 . Finally, by pressing the outer housing  505  further in the housing mounting direction Y 2 , a spacer locking step portion of the female terminal is finally locked by the spacer  517 . In this manner, the spacer  517  locks the female terminal at a final locking position so that the female terminal is not detached out of the terminal receiving chamber  531  even if the locking of the female terminal by the terminal locking lance is released. 
     There is a conventional connector apparatus, in which the board mounting connector is coupled with the connector  501  having a retainer (for example, a harness side connector). 
     The connector  501  having a retainer is configured such that a pair of side covers  525  is disposed on both sides of an external width that is the orthogonal direction Y 3  of the spacer  517  so that the outer housing  505  is integrally formed with said pair of side covers  525  forming its both sides. Therefore, as to the connector  501  with the outer housing  505  fitting over the inner housing  503 , the external size of said pair of side covers  525  becomes its external width. As a result, a board mounting connector formed by receiving the connector  501  inwardly should have an external width larger than the external width of the pair of side covers  525 . However, a board mounting connector to be mounted on a board has a restriction in its external width due to differences in tolerance such as a linear expansion coefficient, flatness, curvature, and so on. Therefore, it is common to employ a plurality of board mounting connectors, such as each having small number of terminals with short external width, to be disposed in an opening-widthwise direction. For instance, when 120 pins of terminal are required, three board mounting connectors, each having 40-pins, are provided side by side. Further, such a board mounting connector is required for having a part at both ends of an opening-widthwise direction so that a reinforcing metal for fixing another board can be provided. Therefore, accumulating such a part as the number of connectors to be provided side by side increase may result in a proportional increase of the external width. Thus, a conventional board mounting connector has a problem such that occupancy of a board mounting area becomes large. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances. It is an object of the invention to provide a connector apparatus configured to lower the occupancy of a board mounting area by reducing an external width of a board mounting connector. 
     The object of the present disclosure is achieved by the following configurations. There is provided a connector apparatus, comprising: 
     a board mounting connector configured to be mounted on a board housed in a housing case and to be disposed at an opening section of the housing case; 
     a mating connector fit to the board mounting connector; and 
     a guide hood configured to have a connector fitting part to guide insertion of the mating connector corresponding to the board mounting connector, and to be fit into the opening section of the housing case, 
     wherein a housing of the board mounting connector has a recessed fitting part, into which a housing front-end side fitting part of the mating connector is inserted; 
     wherein a connector fitting part of the guide hood has a second opening, and a width of the second opening is wider than a width of a first opening of the recessed fitting part and is substantially equal to a width of a housing rear-end side fitting part of the mating connector; and 
     wherein a retainer for locking a terminal contained in the mating housing is housed and held in a housing rear-end side fitting part of the mating connector. 
     According to the above configuration, the housing rear-end side fitting part of the mating connector which houses and holds the retainer is guided for the insertion into the connector fitting part of the guide hood, and only the housing front-end side fitting part with an external width narrower than the housing rear-end side fitting part is inserted into the recessed fitting part of the housing of the board mounting connector. Thus, an external width of the board mounting connector can be reduced by the difference between the external widths of the housing rear-end side fitting part and the housing front-end side fitting part. As a result, the board mounting connector can be reduced in occupancy of a board mounting area of the board. 
     For example, the guide hood has a plurality of connector fitting parts to guide insertion of a plurality of the mating connectors corresponding to a plurality of the board mounting connectors disposed in a width direction of the second opening of the guide hood. 
     According to the above configuration, a total external width can be reduced by disposing THE plurality of board mounting connectors in the width direction of the second opening of the guide hood. 
     According to the connector apparatus described above, occupancy of a board mounting area can be lowered by reducing an external width of a board mounting connector. 
     Hereinbefore, the disclosure has been briefly explained. Details of the disclosure will be further clarified by reading through the following description of modes for carrying out the invention (hereinafter, referred to as modes) with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a connector apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of a retainer inserted into a mating connector shown in  FIG. 1 , seen from the bottom front side, and  FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of a retainer before insertion into a mating connector shown in  FIG. 1 , seen from the bottom front side; 
         FIG. 3A  is a front view of a mating connector shown in  FIG. 2A , seen from a terminal mounting side, and  FIG. 3B  is a bottom view of  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a cross sectional view taken along lines A-A of  FIG. 3A ,  FIG. 4B  is a cross sectional view taken along lines B-B of  FIG. 3B , and  FIG. 4C  is a cross sectional view taken along lines C-C of  FIG. 3B ; 
         FIG. 5A  is a horizontal sectional view of a board mounting connector and a mating connector before coupling, and  FIG. 5B  is a horizontal sectional view of a board mounting connector and a mating connector after coupling; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of essential parts of  FIG. 5A ; 
         FIG. 7  is a horizontal sectional view of a connector apparatus, in which three board mounting connectors shown in  FIG. 1  are mounted side by side in an opening width direction; and 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of a conventional connector provided with a retainer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. A connector unit according to the embodiment includes a plurality of connector apparatus  11 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , having a board mounting connector  13 , a harness side connector  15  as the mating connector, and a guide hood  17 . The board mounting connector  13  is a so-called SMT connector. In the embodiment, the board mounting connector  13  is a male connector housing a male terminal  19  (refer to  FIG. 6 ), and the harness side connector  15  is a female connector housing a female terminal (a terminal)  21  (refer to  FIG. 6 ). In the connector apparatus  11  according to the invention, male terminals and female terminals are respectively housed in the board mounting connector  13  and harness side connector  15 , however, this combination in the embodiments described in this specification may be changed to the reversed combination. 
     The board mounting connector  13  is surface-mounted by soldering a soldering part  27  to a board  25  housed in a flat rectangular housing case  23  (refer to  FIG. 7 ). In addition, both ends of the board mounting connector  13  are also fixed to the board  25  by using a reinforcing metal  31  (refer to  FIG. 1 ). In this way, without using throughholes, the connector apparatus  11  according to the embodiment can realize its low-profile mounting structure. As a housing case  23 , an outer cabinet of an ECU may be used, for example. The housing case  23  is fastened to a vehicle body with fasteners such as bolts and nuts. The board  25  is further fixed to an inside of the housing case  23  with fasteners such as screws. A flat rectangular opening  33  (refer to  FIG. 7 ) is formed in the housing case  23 . Along a longitudinal direction of the opening  33 , two or more (three in the embodiment) board mounting connectors  13  are arranged side by side with a recessed fitting part  35  (refer to  FIG. 1 ) for fitting with the harness side connector  15  directed to the front. 
     In the embodiment, for example, two or more harness side connectors are coupled with two or more board mounting connectors  13  respectively. However, as to the connector unit according to the invention, it may be also constituted from a single harness side connector  15  and a single board mounting connector  13 , being coupled together. 
     In the board mounting connector  13 , a plurality of male terminals  19  is press-fitted to a mounting connector housing (a housing)  37  made of insulating synthetic resin. In the press-fitted male terminal  19 , an electric contact portion  39  (refer to  FIG. 6 ) in a front-end side is arranged side by side in the recessed fitting part  35 , enabling the plurality of male terminals  19  to contact the female terminal  21 . In the male terminal  19 , an opposite side of the front-end across a press-in part  41  (refer to  FIG. 6 ) is led out of the rear of the mounting connector housing  37  as a board fixing part  43 . The led-out board fixing part  43  is bent in a direction vertical to the board  25 , curved along the board  25 , and fixed to the board  25  by soldering to a conductor of a board surface  45  (refer to  FIG. 7 ). In other words, the board mounting connector  13  is fixed to the board  25  by the soldering portion  27 . 
     The harness side connector  15  is provided in two or more arrangement (three in the embodiment) depending on the number of the board mounting connector  13  to be used. Each harness side connector  15  may be configured to have either the same terminal arrangement or different terminal arrangement. In the embodiment, concerning the three same harness side connectors  15 , the rightmost one shown in  FIG. 7  has a terminal arrangement different from those employed for the remaining ones. A harness side connector  15  includes a harness side connector housing  47  made of insulating synthetic resin, a female terminal  21  housed in the harness side connector housing  47 , and an insertion/removal lever  49  that is a kind of lever. The harness side connector housing  47  has side surfaces  44  opposing each other. In the middle of the longitudinal direction of the side surface  44 , a first columnar boss  51  and a second columnar boss  52  are disposed apart from each other. 
     The insertion/removal lever  49  is made of insulating synthetic resin, arranged in parallel to each other, and provided with a pair of side plates  55  with one ends separated from each other, and an operation part  57  connecting the other ends of the pair of side plates  55 . The operation unit  57  acts as a force point when rotating the insertion/removal lever  49 . The side plate  55  is provided with an engaging projection  59  in one end. The engaging projection  59  enters an engaging projection receiving groove provided in the guide hood  17  described later, thereby engaging with the guide hood  17 . The engaging projection  59  acts as a force point of the insertion/removal lever  49 . In an area closer to the other end than the engaging projection  59 , a pair of first boss receiving hole  61  and second boss hole  63 , which fits with the first boss  51  and second boss  53  respectively, are provided. The first boss receiving hole  61  and second boss receiving hole  63  acts as an action point when rotating the insertion/removal lever  49 . 
     Further, the side plate  55  of the insertion/removal lever  49  is provided with a sliding claw  65  on the opposite side of the engaging projection  59 , across the first boss receiving hole  61  and second boss receiving hole  63 . The sliding claw  65  moves into a guide groove provided in the guide hood  17  as will be described later. 
     The guide hood  17  has a connector fitting part  69  to guide insertion of the harness side connector  15  to meet the board mounting connector  13 . In other words, the guide hood  17  is formed in a square cylindrical shape with a hood body  71  opened at both ends. The hood body  71  is inserted into the opening  33  of the housing case  23 . In the hood body  71 , the connector fitting part  69  to accept the harness side connector  15  is divided by a partition wall  73  depending on each board mounting connector  13 . In other words, the guide hood  17  is configured to enable slot (insertion) of a plurality of board mounting connectors  13  in a single food structure. 
     An inner wall  75  (refer to  FIG. 1 ) of each connector fitting part  69  is provided with an operation mechanism  77  for the insertion/removal lever  49 . The operation mechanism  77  comprises an engaging projection guide groove  79 , an engaging projection receiving groove (not-shown), a tapered wall (not-shown), and a guide groove  67 . The engaging projection guide groove  79  extends to the back side of the connector fitting part  69  along the connector fitting direction. The engaging projection receiving groove continues to an end of the engaging projection guide groove  79 , and extends in the direction crossing the engaging projection guide groove  79 . The tapered wall is formed to be inclined with respect to the connector fitting direction, in a part connecting the engaging projection guide groove  79  and engaging projection receiving groove. The guide groove  67  is provided substantially parallel to the engaging projection guide groove  79 , and is extended to the back side of the connector fitting part  69  along the connector fitting direction. In the connector apparatus  11 , the board mounting connector  13  and harness side connector  15  are fitted by rotation of the insertion/removal lever  49  of the harness side connector  15  engaging with the operation mechanism  77  of the connector fitting part  69 . 
     In one end side of a square cylinder axis of the hood body  71 , a flange  81  projecting outside in circumference (refer to  FIG. 7 ) is provided. The flange  81  contacts the peripheral edge of the opening  33  by inserting the hood body  71  into the opening  33  of the housing case  23 . With this structure, when the harness side connector  15  is inserted into the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17 , a space between the harness side connector  15  and opening  33  is capped by the flange  81 . In other words, the guide hood  17  acts also as a cover to close the opening  33  of the housing case  23 . A frame-shaped locking part  83  is provided in the middle of each of four sides of the flange  81 . The frame-shaped locking part  83  is engaged with a wedge-shaped lock  85 . This prevents the guide hood  17  from being detached out of the opening  33 , and the guide hood  17  is housed in the housing case  23 . 
     In the mounting connector housing  37  of the board mounting connector  13 , a pair of locking parts  89  are protrudingly provided at the left and right ends on the upper surface of the upper wall  87  of the recessed fitting part  35  (refer to  FIG. 1 ) along the longitudinal direction of the recessed fitting part  35 . The locking part  89  is formed in a square frame shape. 
     On the other hand, the guide hood  17  is provided with a lock unit, which can lock and engage with the board mounting connector  13  by elastically engaging with the locking part  89  of the board mounting connector  13  in the direction of providing the board mounting connector  13  side by side. In the embodiment, the lock unit is formed as a flexible lock arm  91  extending in the connector fitting direction. In other words, the lock arm  91  is, as shown in  FIG. 1 , arranged in a pair inside a pair of locking parts  89 , and is formed to lock and engage with the board mounting connector  13  by that an end portion locks the locking part  89  from inside of a pair of locking parts  89 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2A , in a housing rear-end side fitting part  93  of the harness side connector  15 , a retainer  95  locking the housed female terminal  21  is housed and held. The female terminal  21  is inserted forward (rightward in  FIG. 2A ) from a female terminal insertion hole  97 , with the retainer  95  at a temporary locking position shown in  FIG. 2A . When the female terminal  21  is completely housed in the terminal receiving chamber  99  (refer to  FIGS. 4A to 4C ), a terminal locking lance (not-shown) temporarily locks a lance locking step portion (not shown) of the female terminal  21 , and the female terminal  21  is housed and held in the terminal receiving chamber  99 . Thereafter, when the retainer  95  temporarily locked on the housing rear-end side fitting part  93  is inserted moreover, a final lock is made to the retainer locking step portion of the female terminal  21  with the retainer  95 . At the final locking position of the retainer  95 , the retainer  95  locks the female terminal  21 , and even when the locking of the female terminal  21  by the terminal locking lance is released, the female terminal  21  is not detached out of the terminal receiving chamber  99 . 
     The board mounting connector  13  according to the embodiment is provided with the recessed fitting part  35 , into which a housing front-end side fitting part  101  (refer to  FIGS. 2A and 2B ) of the harness side connector  15  is inserted. As shown in  FIGS. 5A and 5B  and  FIG. 6 , in the guide hood  17 , the connector fitting part  69  is formed to have a second opening width E, which is wider than a first opening width D of the recessed fitting part  35 , and substantially equal to the housing rear-end side fitting part  93  of the harness side connector  15 . The insertion width F of the housing front-end side fitting part  101  is a little narrower than the first opening width D of the recessed fitting part  35 . Therefore, a gap G is formed between the housing rear-end side fitting part  93  and the housing front-end side fitting part  101 . 
     Locking pieces  103  as shown in  FIGS. 5A and 5B  and  FIG. 6  are provided at both ends of the opening-widthwise direction of the retainer  95  such as protruding to the opposite side of the housing front-end side fitting part  101 . A locking projection  103   a  at the insertion end of the locking piece  103  is locked to the locking step portion  105  (refer to  FIG. 4C ) which is formed in the housing rear-end side fitting part  93 . The locking piece  103  and locking step portion  105  are formed to fall within a size range of the gap G. 
     In the connector apparatus  11  according to the embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the guide hood  17  is provided with three connector fitting parts  69  corresponding to three board mounting connectors  13  provided side by side in the opening width direction. 
     Next, functions of the connector apparatus  11  configured as described above will be explained. In the connector apparatus  11  according to the embodiment, the board  25  is housed in the housing case  23 , and a plurality of board mounting connectors  13  are mounted side by side on the board  25  so as to be disposed in the opening  33  of the housing case  23 . Therefore, in the opening  33  of the housing case  23 , a plurality of board mounting connectors  13  is arranged side by side. As shown in  FIG. 5A , when the guide hood  17  is fit in the opening  33  of the housing case  23  (refer to  FIG. 7 ), the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17  is arranged to meet each board mounting connector  13 . 
     Before fitting with the board mounting connector  13 , the harness side connector  15  is inserted into the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17 . In other words, as shown in  FIG. 5B , the housing front-end side fitting part  101  of the harness side connector  15  is finally inserted into the recessed fitting part  35  of the board mounting connector  13 . Before direct insertion into the recessed fitting part  35  of the board mounting connector  13 , the housing front-end side fitting part  101  is inserted into the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17  having the opening larger than the recessed fitting part  35  of the board mounting connector  13 , and then guided into the recessed fitting part of the board mounting connector  13 . This facilitates positioning of the housing front-end side fitting part  101  with respect to the board mounting connector  13 . 
     The board mounting connector  13  and harness side connector  15  are coupled by a low insertion force of a lever action. Namely, when the insertion/removal lever  49  provided in the harness side connector  15  is rotated, the harness side connector  15  is engaged and drawn to the connector fitting part  69  so that coupling with the board mounting connector  13  can be made with a low insertion force by the action of the insertion/removal lever  49 . 
     In other words, the harness side connector  15  is inserted into the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17 , and the engaging projection  59  of the insertion/removal lever  49  is disposed in the fitting projection guide groove  79 . At this time, the sliding claw  65  of the insertion/removal lever  49  is also disposed in the guide groove  67  of the connector fitting part  69 . In this state, the male terminal  19  and female terminal  21  are not conducting. When the insertion/removal lever  49  is rotated, the engaging projection  59  is picked up by the tapered wall, and pulled into the engaging projection receiving groove. The first boss receiving hole  61  and second boss receiving hole  63  form an action point of the insertion/removal lever  49 , and push the first boss  51  and second boss  53  to the back side of the connector fitting direction. Thus, the female terminal  21  is electrically connected to the male terminal  19 , and the coupling of the harness side connector  15  and board mounting connector  13  is completed. 
     In the connector apparatus  11  to be coupled in this manner, as shown in  FIGS. 5A and 5B  and  FIG. 6 , the housing rear-end side fitting part  93  of the harness side connector  15  housing and holding the retainer  95  is guided to and inserted into the connector fitting part  69  of the guide hood  17 . Only the housing front-end side fitting part  101  of the harness side connector  15 , whose external width (the width of the female terminal  21  in the alignment direction) is narrower than the housing rear-end side fitting part  93 , is inserted into the recessed fitting part  35  of the mounting connector housing  37 . 
     Therefore, according to the connector unit including the connector apparatus  11  in the embodiment, the occupancy of the board mounting area can be reduced by decreasing the external width W of the board mounting connector  13  by the difference (that is, by the gap G) between the external widths of the housing rear-end side fitting part  93  and the housing front-end side fitting part  101 . Further, as shown in  FIG. 7 , when a plurality of board mounting connectors  13  are arranged in the opening-widthwise direction, the total external width H can be also effectively narrowed. 
     The invention is not to be limited to the embodiment described hereinbefore. Various modifications and improvements are possible when necessary. In addition, material, shape, size, number, and location of each component are optional, and not restrictive as long as the invention can be achieved. 
     The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-192359 filed on Aug. 31, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.