阅读说明：本技术 连接器外壳 (Connector shell ) 是由 木村毅 杉田幸绩 藤井大五郎 于 2020-04-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及连接器外壳。具体地,提供一种高度可靠的连接器,其提供有具有高刚度的外壳主体和适合于弹性变形的闩锁臂。连接器外壳(20)具有外壳主体(21)和闩锁臂(22)。闩锁臂(22)像悬臂一样延伸,具有前端(22a)作为固定端。而且,闩锁臂(22)相对于外壳主体(21)弹性地变形以闩锁诸如匹配连接器外壳的被闩锁部件。外壳主体(21)由具有高刚度的材料形成。另一方面,闩锁臂(22)由可易于弹性变形并且柔软的材料形成。在外壳主体(21)与闩锁臂(22)之间的边界部分处或其附近存在过渡区域,在该过渡区域中外壳主体(21)的材料与闩锁臂(22)的材料混合在一起并且它们的混合比是连续可变的。(The present invention relates to a connector housing. Specifically, a highly reliable connector is provided with a housing main body having high rigidity and a latch arm adapted to be elastically deformed. The connector housing (20) has a housing main body (21) and a latch arm (22). The latch arm (22) extends like a cantilever, having a front end (22 a) as a fixed end. Also, the latch arm (22) is elastically deformed with respect to the housing main body (21) to latch a latched component such as a mating connector housing. The housing main body (21) is formed of a material having high rigidity. On the other hand, the latch arm (22) is formed of a material that is easily elastically deformable and flexible. At or near the boundary portion between the housing main body (21) and the latch arm (22), there is a transition region in which the material of the housing main body (21) and the material of the latch arm (22) are mixed together and their mixing ratio is continuously variable.)

1. A connector housing, comprising:

a housing body formed of a first material; and

a latch arm formed of a second material having lower rigidity than the first material, the latch arm extending in a cantilever manner, pinching a boundary portion between the latch arm and the housing main body, and configured to be elastically deformed with respect to the housing main body to latch a latched component,

Wherein a transition region having a continuously variable mixing ratio between the first material and the second material is present within an extended border region that includes the border portion and that extends into the housing body and into the latch arms.

2. The connector housing according to claim 1, wherein the first material is a material mixed with glass, and the second material is a material not mixed with glass or a material having a lower glass mixture ratio than the first material.

3. Connector shell according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the latching arm is a latching arm for latching a mating shell mating with the connector shell.

4. The connector housing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first material and the second material are materials different in color from each other.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a connector housing provided with a latch arm.

Background

Conventionally, a connector housing provided with a latch arm for latching a latched member such as a mating housing to hold the latched member is widely used (for example, see patent document 1). Such a latch arm extends like a cantilever from the housing main body and has a structure for locking onto a latched member at a middle portion of the cantilever.

Further, patent document 2 discloses a connector housing provided with a housing main body made of a hard material and a hinge made of a soft material different from the hard material by means of a multi-material injection molding (or injection molding) technique.

Further, patent document 3 discloses a molding apparatus in which different resin materials are injected from a plurality of gates (inlets) of a mold.

CITATION LIST

Patent document

Patent document 1: JPH04-137474A

Patent document 2: JPH02-186569A

Patent document 3: JP 2017-177738A.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

The housing main body is required to have high rigidity so as not to be easily deformed. On the other hand, the latch arm is required to temporarily elastically deform in order to latch the latched component, e.g., the mating housing. If such a latch arm is formed of the same material as the housing main body, the operating force for the latch arm becomes too large.

As means for forming the housing main body and the latch arm from different materials suitable for the housing main body and the latch arm, respectively, it is possible to apply the multi-material injection molding technique disclosed in patent document 2 to the latch arm. However, multi-material injection molding is costly because the molding process is performed twice. Further, the multi-material injection molding is likely to cause the housing main body and the lock arm to be separated at their joint, which may result in insufficient reliability.

Further, there is no disclosure about the connector housing in the above-cited patent document 3.

In light of these circumstances, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a highly reliable connector housing provided with a housing main body having high rigidity and latch arms adapted to be elastically deformed.

Problem solving scheme

The connector housing of the present disclosure achieving the above object may be characterized by having:

a housing body formed of a first material; and

a latch arm formed of a second material having lower rigidity than the first material, the latch arm extending like a cantilever arm having a boundary portion between the latch arm and the housing main body, and the latch arm being configured to be elastically deformed with respect to the housing main body to latch the latched component,

wherein a transition region having a continuously variable mixing ratio (or ratio) between the first material and the second material is present within an extended border region that includes the transition region and that extends into the housing body and into the latch arms.

The housing body may be formed of a first material satisfying rigidity of the housing body and, further, the latch arm may be formed of a second material suitable for elastic deformation thereof. These can be achieved by multi-material injection moulding.

The present disclosure also includes a transition region having a continuously variable mixing ratio between the first material and the second material. According to aspects of the present disclosure, since such a transition region exists, the housing main body and the latch arm are integrally formed, and separation thereof is prevented with high reliability.

Here, in the connector housing of the present disclosure, it is preferable that the first material is a material mixed with glass, and the second material is a material not mixed with glass or a material having a lower glass mixture ratio than the first material.

By mixing the glass, the rigidity becomes higher as the mixing ratio increases, and the material becomes more suitable for elastic deformation as the mixing ratio decreases.

The latch arm referred to in this disclosure is typically a latch arm that latches a mating housing that mates with the connector housing of this disclosure.

However, the latch arm referred to in this disclosure is not limited to latching the latch arm of the mating housing. For example, the latch arm referred to in the present disclosure may be a latch arm that latches a contact (contact lance) inserted into a connector housing.

Further, in the connector housing of the present disclosure, it is preferable that the first material and the second material are materials different in color from each other.

When they differ in color, it is easy to confirm that they are molded correctly.

Advantageous effects of the invention

According to the present disclosure described above, it is possible to provide a connector housing having high reliability and provided with a housing main body having high rigidity and a latch arm adapted to be elastically deformed.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a connector;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrows X-X shown in FIG. 1; and

fig. 3 is a schematic view showing an outline of a manufacturing process of a connector housing constituting the connector shown in fig. 1 and 2.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below.

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a connector.

Further, fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along an arrow X-X shown in fig. 1.

Such a connector 10 is provided with a connector housing 20, and contacts 30 (see fig. 2) inserted in the connector housing 20.

The cable 40 is connected to the contact 30, and the cable 40 extends to the outside of the connector housing 20. It should be noted that only a portion of the cable 40 near the connector housing 20 is shown in fig. 1 and 2.

The connector housing 20 has a housing main body 21 and a latch arm 22. Such a connector housing 20 is equivalent to one example of the connector housing of the present disclosure.

The latch arm 22 has a front end 22a connected to the housing main body 21, and extends rearward like a cantilever using the front end 22a as a fixed end. Further, such a latch arm 22 is provided with a latch protrusion 22c between a front end 22a as a fixed end and a rear end 22b as a free end.

A mating connector (not shown) is mated with such a connector 10 in the direction of arrow Z. During mating, the latch protrusion 22c is pressed by the housing of the mating connector. Thus, such a latch arm 22 is elastically deformed in the direction of arrow Y shown in fig. 2. Then, once the connectors are in the fully mated state, the latch protrusion 22c is released from depression by the mating connectors and returns to its original form. Thereby, the mating connector is placed in the locked state so as not to be easily released from the connector 10.

Here, a material whose rigidity is improved by mixing a resin material with glass is used for the housing main body 21. On the other hand, a material that is the same resin material as the housing main body 21 but is not mixed with glass is used for the latch arms 22. Alternatively, in order to adjust the rigidity, a material mixed with glass at a mixing ratio lower than that for the housing main body 21 may also be used for the latch arms 22. In addition, a material mixed with a colored pigment may be used for latch arm 22 to make it clearly distinguishable from housing body 21. It should be noted that instead of mixing the latch arms 22 with paint, the material of the housing body 21 may be mixed with paint.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing an outline of a manufacturing process of a connector housing constituting the connector shown in fig. 1 and 2.

Shown here is a cavity 70 of a mold (not shown) for making the connector housing 20. Such a cavity 70 has a housing body portion 71 for molding the housing body 21 and a latch arm portion 72 for molding the latch arm 22. Further, such a mold has inlets 71a, 72a connected to each of the housing main body portion 71 and the latch arm portion 72, respectively, for injecting a material into the mold.

In addition, two cylinders (cylinders) 51, 52 are provided here. One cylinder 51 is connected to the inlet 71 a. Also, the material 21A for the housing main body 21 is accumulated in the cylinder 51. Further, the other cylinder 52 is connected to the inlet 72 a. Also, the material 22A for the latch arm 22 accumulates in the cylinder 52.

Further, the timing of the opening valves 61, 62 is adjusted to inject the materials 21A, 22B into the cavity 70 of the mold. Then, the material 21A for the housing main body 21 is injected into the housing main body portion 71 of the cavity 70, and the material 22A for the latch arm 22 is injected into the latch arm portion 72 of the cavity 70. A transition zone T is then formed in which the two materials 21A, 22A are mixed together before hardening. Such a transition region T is a region having a higher ratio of the material 21A constituting the housing main body 21 as it approaches the housing main body portion 71, and having a higher ratio of the material 22A constituting the latch arm 22 as it approaches the latch arm portion 72.

Such a transition region T does not necessarily coincide with the boundary portion R between the housing main body 21 and the latch arm 22. That is, the transition region T is only required to exist in the extended boundary region E including the boundary portion R and extending into the housing main body and the latch arm. In the example shown in fig. 3, the transition region T is formed in a region recessed into the housing main body.

In this way, the connector housing 20 is completed, which has the housing main body 21 formed of the material 21A having high rigidity and the latch arm 22 formed of the material 22A adapted to be elastically deformed. In addition, unlike connector housings formed by multi-material injection molding, such connector housings 20 have a transition region T in which the material is continuously variable. Therefore, an accident in which the latch arm 22 is separated from the housing main body 21 can be prevented with high reliability.

The housing main body 21 and the latch arm 22 may have different colors from each other. This makes it possible to easily confirm that the materials are well mixed in the transition region T.

Here, it should be noted that the use of a material whose rigidity is adjusted by mixing glass or not or by mixing glass in different ratios is described by way of example. However, this is an example, and different mixing substances may be mixed in. Alternatively, the resin materials themselves may be different resin materials from each other.

Further, here, a latch arm that latches a housing of a mating connector is described. However, the latch arm referred to in this disclosure is not limited to latching the latch arm of the housing of the mating connector. For example, the latch arm referred to in the present disclosure may be a latch arm that latches a contact inserted into a connector housing to hold the contact (contact lance 23 (see fig. 2)).

List of reference numerals

10

Connector housing

A housing body

Material for housing body

Latch arm

Front end of a latching arm

Rear end of the latching arm

22c

Material for a latching arm

Contact element

Cable

51,52

61,62

70. cavity of a mold

71.. housing body part of cavity

Inlet 71a

A latching arm portion of the cavity

72a … inlet.