JP3176829B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small-sized connector, and more particularly to an operation member (referred to as a lever) for operating a connector detection switch of a device to be connected to the connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic equipment using a battery, such as a video camera, is provided with a connector detection switch for detecting insertion of a battery connector. Generally, a movable rod (hereinafter, referred to as a movable plunger) protrudes forward and backward from the connector detection switch. When the rod is fully pushed, the connector detection switch operates to detect insertion of the connector. .

[0003] Therefore, on the surface of the battery connector,
A projection for pushing the movable plunger is provided. Due to the pressing force when inserting the battery connector into the device, the protrusion pushes the movable plunger, and as a result,
The connector detection switch is operated. In this case, the other movable plunger is installed along the bottom surface of the guide groove, and the projection of the connector moves through the guide groove.

On the other hand, a charger or the like does not have the connector detection switch for detecting insertion of a battery connector, a movable plunger, and a guide groove.

[0005]

However, when the battery connector having the protrusion is applied to a device such as a charger, the protrusion becomes a hindrance. Therefore, depending on the partner device,
Both a connector with a projection and a connector without a projection must be prepared, and the selection during use is troublesome and problematic.

Accordingly, the present invention has an object to solve the above-mentioned problem by providing a compatible connector irrespective of the presence or absence of a connector detection switch of a partner device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a connector according to the present invention is designed such that the above-mentioned conventional fixed projection is replaced by a connector for connecting to a counterpart device having no guide groove.
Until it comes into contact with the other device and is flush with the surface of the housing
The retreating lever is cantilevered to the housing.

With the above arrangement, when the partner device has a connector detection switch and has a guide groove, the lever moves in the guide groove while projecting from the surface of the housing .

However, if the partner device does not have the connector detection switch, and thus has no guide groove, the lever retracts into the housing . Therefore, they do not interfere with each other.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the connector according to the present invention will be described below. The connector of this embodiment is a battery connector that can be used for both devices having a connector detection switch, such as a video camera, and devices that do not have a connector detection switch, such as a charger.

First, a video camera having a connector detection switch will be described. For example, a socket 1 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C is attached to the video camera. The video camera and the battery 3 are connected by inserting the connector 2 into the socket 1.

The socket 1 includes a wiring board 11, a fixed cover 12 that covers the upper half of the wiring board 11 and both left and right sides,
The moving cover 13 includes a movable cover 13 that covers the upper half of the wiring board 11 in a curtain shape, and a connector detection switch 14 that is installed inside the fixed cover 12 and that is indicated by a dotted line in FIG.

On the upper surface of the wiring board 11, a plurality of contact pieces 11, which are so-called a plurality of aligned contact groups, are brought into electrical contact with the contacts of the connector 2.
a is provided. Also, on the lower surface of the wiring board 11,
A plurality of pin terminals (not shown) are provided, and these pin terminals are connected to the contact pieces 11 a inside the wiring board 11.

At one end (left end in FIG. 1) of the wiring board 11, a guide groove 11b having a rectangular cross section through which a lever 26 of the connector 2 described later passes is cut in the front-rear direction, and continues to the detection switch 14. I have.

The fixed cover 12 is composed of an upper plate about half the size of the wiring board 11, left and right side plates, and a rear plate, and is attached so as to form a space between the upper plate and the wiring board 11. Have been.

The movable cover 13 is normally pushed by an internal spring (not shown) and covers the wiring board 11 as shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1 (B), it slides into the gap formed between the wiring board 11 and the upper plate of the fixed cover 12, and as a result, functions to expose the contact piece 11a.

The movable plunger 14a of the connector detection switch 14 is urged by a spring and protrudes into the guide groove 11b. The movable plunger 14a is for physically detecting an electrical connection with the contact piece 11a, which is a contact group, and the detection switch 14a is opposed to the elasticity of the spring.
When pushed to the side, it slides along the bottom surface of the guide groove 11b,
It enters into the connector detection switch 14.

The connector detecting switch 14 detects the insertion of the connector 2 when the movable plunger 14a is pushed. The detection output of the connector detection switch 14 corresponds to two pins 1 provided on the lower surface of the wiring board 11.
4b.

Note that the connector detection switch 14 is not provided in the socket of the charger or the like, and therefore, the movable plunger 14a and the guide groove 11b of the wiring board 11 are not provided.

Hereinafter, the connector 2 will be described. The connector 2 includes a housing 21 and contacts 22, 23.
, A slider 24, a coil spring 25, and a lever 26. Hereinafter, the configuration, assembling method, and operation of each unit will be described in detail in the following order. (1) Housing 21 (2) Contacts 22, 23 (3) Slider 24 (4) Coil spring 25 (5) Lever 26 (6) Assembly (7) Operation of connector 2

(1) Housing 21 As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 21 is formed by combining an L-shaped lower block 27 and an inverted L-shaped upper block 28 when viewed from the side. Is formed in a hollow box shape.

The lower block 27 includes a vertical plate 27a serving as a front wall of the connector 2 and a horizontal plate 2 serving as a bottom plate of the connector 2.
7b, and side walls 27c and 27d erected on the left and right sides of the rear part of the horizontal plate 27b.

The vertical plate 27a has a contact 2 to be described later.
Two grooves 27e for fitting and fixing one end of each of the rods 2 and 23 and a groove 27f for fixing one end of a lever 26 described later are cut vertically.

The horizontal plate 27b of the lower block 27,
That is, two rectangular openings 27g for allowing the lower ends of the contacts 22 and 23 to be inserted into and removed from the lower block 27 of the housing 21 and the distal end of the lever 26 are inserted into and removed from the bottom plate of the connector 2. Opening 27h is provided.

The upper block 28 includes a horizontal plate 28a serving as a lid of the connector 2 and a vertical plate 28 serving as a rear wall of the connector 2.
b. The lower surface of the horizontal plate 28a is formed to smoothly slide the upper surface of a slider 24 described later in the front-rear direction.

On the back surface of the vertical plate 28b of the upper block 28, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 2, a projection 28c for supporting a coil spring 25 described later is integrally formed.

The lower block 27 and the upper block 28 are made of a plastic having some flexibility and elasticity, and each is provided with a plurality of projections and depressions which mesh with each other at the time of assembly.

(2) Contacts 22, 23 Since the contacts 22, 23 have the same structure, the contact 22 will be representatively described below.

The contact 22 is integrally formed of a thin and long elastic conductive plate punched from a thin elastic conductive plate, and is in contact with an upper end portion including a battery terminal 22a and a contact piece of a mating device, for example, 11a of the socket 1. Contact 29
, And an intermediate portion formed in an N shape between the upper end and the lower end.

The upper end has a battery-side terminal 22a, a locking portion 22b bent below the terminal 22a in the horizontal direction,
A wide portion 22c that bends downward from the locking portion 22b, is fitted in a groove 27e provided in the lower block 27 of the housing 21, and fixes the contact 22.

The contact 22 is bent at a right angle in the curved portion 22d below the wide portion 22c, and enters the intermediate portion therefrom. The curved portion 22d is where bending stress is applied when the intermediate portion is driven up and down by the slider 24, as described later. Therefore, in order to buffer the above-mentioned stress, a buffer portion 22e that is curved symmetrically with the bending direction of the curved portion 22d is provided adjacent to the curved portion 22d.

From the buffer portion 22e, the intermediate portion enters an N-shaped bent portion 22f in the same plane.

The rear end of the bent portion 22f is rounded downward to form a slider engagement surface 22g. The slider engagement surface 22g comes into contact with an inclined surface of a slider 24, which will be described later, and the slider 24 relatively moves back and forth, and slides on the inclined surface to move up and down. Move up and down.

After being bent at the last bending point of the bent portion 22f, the contact 22 is bent downward at an angle θ with respect to the plane of the bent portion 22f, and enters the lower end portion 22h from here.

The lower end 22h is bent downward at a deeper angle at a position close to the front end, and then bent upward at a position substantially in the same row as the slider engaging surface 22g. Has formed. At the top of the chevron, that is, at the lowermost end of the contact 22, a contact 29 that is in contact with a mating contact piece is attached.

(3) Slider 24 As shown in FIG. 2, the slider 24 is made of a plastic material and has a substantially rectangular pushing block 24a, a left arm 24b and a right arm 24b projecting leftward and rightward from the pushing block 24a. It is integrally formed with the arm 24c.

Left and right 2 of the upper surface of the pushing block 24a
A semi-cylindrical guide 24d long in the front-rear direction is integrally formed in
Can be smoothly slid in the front-rear direction along the lower surface.

In the center of the front of the upper surface of the pushing block 24a, a round and square spring receiving groove 24e is cut from the front edge to the center in the front-rear direction. One end of the coil spring 25 is housed in the spring receiving groove 24e during assembly.

The rear surface of the pushing block 24a forms a flat vertical surface. This pushing block 24a
A right triangular prism 24f having a downward slope from the rear surface to the front surface is integrally formed on the lower surface of the left and right sides.

The position of each inclined surface of the right and left right triangular prisms 24f is determined by the position of each slider engagement surface 2 of the contacts 22 and 23, respectively.
It is formed to match the position of 2g.

(4) Coil Spring 25 The coil spring 25 is for constantly biasing the slider 24 from the front to the rear. One end of the coil spring 25 is housed in the spring receiving groove 24 e of the slider 24, and the other end is held. The housing 21 is supported by a spring projection 28c provided on the inner surface of the upper block 28.

(5) Lever 26 FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are a side view, a rear view, a front view, and a bottom view of the lever 26, respectively.

The lever 26 is formed by punching a pattern as shown in FIG. 4 from a resilient and elongated metal plate, bending the pattern, and integrally forming it into a shape as shown in FIG.

Although the lever 26 is integrally formed, as shown in FIG. 4, an upper end 26a, a curved portion 26b, an intermediate portion 26c, a cover 26d, and a lever front 26 are formed.
e, and a hook 26f corresponding to a hook-shaped portion hooked on a rectangular opening 27h of the lower block 27 of the housing 21.
Can be divided into each part.

The upper end 26a is formed to be slightly wider and has a groove 27f provided in the lower block 27 of the housing 21.
And fixed vertically to one end of the lever 26.

The lever 26 is bent at a substantially right angle in a curved portion 26b below the upper end portion 26a. The curved portion 26b elastically supports the weight of the entire free end.

After being bent in a substantially horizontal direction at the curved portion 26b, it becomes an intermediate portion 26c, where it is further bent downward at a point A. That is, before the point A, an angle δ is formed with the horizontal plane. This is because the free end of the lever 26 projects from the lower surface of the connector 2 through a rectangular hole 27h provided in the lower block 27 of the housing 21.

After the lever 26 is bent downward at the point A shown in FIG. 4A, it becomes a cover portion 26d formed in a U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 4B. Cover part 2
6d has a triangular side surface with a vertex angle δ, which spreads at an angle δ from the point A toward the tip. This cover part 26
d has a function of protecting the elongated elastic plate of the lever 26 from being damaged by a collision of a foreign object from the lateral direction and the like, and having a function of reinforcing the strength in the longitudinal direction.

After the end of the cover 26d, the elastic plate is bent upward to form a lever front 26e having a substantially vertical surface. As described above, this lever front 26e has a function of contacting one end of the movable plunger 14a of the connector detection switch 14 and applying a pressing force thereto.

At the upper part of the lever front 26e, there is provided a hook 26f projecting leftward. When the lever front 26e pushes the movable plunger 14a or when an external foreign object collides with the movable plunger 14a when not in use, the hook 26f is hooked on the upper surface of the horizontal plate 27b of the lower block 27 so that the lever 26 is not turned up. It has the function of

(6) Assembly The housing 21, the contacts 22, 23, the slider 24, the coil spring 25, and the lever 26
Assembly of the connector 2 is performed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, contact 2
2 and 23 are fitted into the grooves 27e provided in the vertical plate 27a of the lower block 27, and the contacts 22, 2 are engaged until the locking portion 22b contacts the upper surface of the vertical plate 27a.
Press 3 down. Then, the wide portions 22c of the contacts 22, 23 are fixed to the vertical plate 27a, and the bent portions 22f are formed.
Is in a state of floating horizontally.

The upper end 26a of the lever 26 is fitted into a groove 27f provided on the vertical plate 27a of the lower block 27. Then, the intermediate portion 26c of the lever 26 is held substantially horizontally in a suspended state, and the cover portion 26d and the lever front 26e are accommodated in a hole 27h provided in the horizontal plate 27b of the lower block 27.

At this time, as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, a part of the cover 26d and the lever front 26e protrude from the lower surface of the horizontal plate 27b, and the hook 26f engages with the upper surface of the horizontal plate 27b. Is stopped.

Next, the slider 24 is moved to the left and right arms 24.
The b and 24c are placed at the rearmost position in the housing 21 with the left and right sides facing each other. At this time, the contacts 22, 23
Bent portion 22f does not abut against the inclined surface of the slider 24,
Therefore, it is held horizontally.

Next, while the coil spring 25 is fitted as described above, the upper block 28 is covered from above the slider 24 and slightly pressed to engage the concave and convex portions provided on the corresponding portions. Thus, the assembly is completed, and the solid connector 2 is obtained.

(7) Operation of Connector 2 The lever 26 operates as follows.

(A) When the battery connection partner has a connector detection switch In this case, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a guide groove 11b is formed on the wiring board 11 indicated by oblique lines. Therefore, the lever front 26e advances along the guide groove 11b without any obstacle while protruding from the lower surface of the connector 2. Then, when it comes into contact with the movable plunger 14a, it is pushed in the direction of the arrow to operate the connector detection switch.

(B) When the battery connection partner does not have a connector detection switch In this case, since the wiring board 11 has no guide groove, the lever front 26e moves the lever It will be sandwiched between the upper surface and the lower surface of the connector 2. Therefore, this force pushes up the cover 26d of the lever 26 until it is flush with the upper surface of the wiring board (shown by oblique lines in the figure) as shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B). After that, the lever 26 proceeds in the state as it is.

Regardless of the state of the lever 26, the connection between the contacts 22, 23 and the contact piece of the wiring board 11 is performed as follows. The terminals 22a of the contacts 22, 23 are connected to the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the battery by connecting wires.

Immediately after the insertion of the connector 2, the slider 24 is located in the rear of the housing 21 and is not in contact with the contacts 22 and 23, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Of the bent portion 22f is kept horizontal. Therefore, the contact 29 does not protrude outside from the opening 27g provided in the lower block 27.

Then, when the connector 2 is still pushed in,
The left and right arms 24b and 24c of the slider 24 come into contact with the front surfaces of the left and right side plates of the partner device and are forcibly stopped, and as a result, only the housing 21 moves forward.

That is, the slider 24 is
, Relatively to the contacts 22 and 23. Therefore, the inclined surface of the slider 24 is
2 and 23 are in contact with the slider engagement surfaces 22g.

Then, as the connector 2 advances, the slider engagement surfaces 22g of the contacts 22 and 23
4 is slid along the inclined surface and pushed down. Due to this force, the N-shaped bent portion 22f tilts forward by opening the curved portion 22d and the buffer portion 22e while maintaining the planar state itself.

When the slider 24 reaches the forefront in the housing 21, the slider engagement surface 22g of the contacts 22, 23 is at the top of the inclined surface of the slider 24 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. The portion 22h is most inclined. In this state, the contacts 22, 23
Of the connector 29 comes out from the lower surface of the opening 27g, that is, the lower surface of the connector 2.

The contact 29 comes into contact with the contact piece on the other side, and as a result, the electronic device and the battery are electrically connected.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, the connector according to the present invention, is provided with the out possible lever from the surface of the housing, though of whether the partner apparatus has a connector detection switch and the movable plunger and the guide groove There is an effect that a highly versatile connector can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of use of a connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the connector in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an outer shape of a connector in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a shape of a lever in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the lever in the embodiment when the mating wiring board has a guide groove.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the lever in the embodiment when there is no guide groove in the mating wiring board.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall operation of the connector in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Socket 2 Connector 3 Battery 11 Wiring board 11b Guide groove 14 Connector detection switch 14a Movable plunger 21 Housing 22, 23 Contact 24 Slider 25 Coil spring 26 Lever 26a Fixed end of lever 26 26b Curved portion 26c Intermediate portion 26d Cover portion 26e Lever front 26f Hook part 27h Rectangular opening

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tohru Yoshida 6-5-5 Togoshi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo SMC Corporation (56) References JP-A-6-176821 (JP, A) JP-A-4-58479 ( JP, A) JP-A-6-5332 (JP, A) JP-A-9-27357 (JP, A) JP-A-6-54272 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , (DB name) H01R 4/48 H01R 13/62-13/719

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector detection switch is provided in a guide groove.
Press the connector detection switch when connecting to the
Pressure lever, a contact electrically connected to a contact group of a partner device, and a housing to which the lever and the contact are attached.
A connector having a lever whose free end corresponds to a guide groove of a mating device.
In the housing, project from the surface of the housing
Cantilevered and protrudes from the housing when connecting to a partner device with a guide groove.
Insert the free end of the protruding lever into the guide groove and
Press the release switch and , when connecting to a partner device without a guide groove, use the free end of the lever.
Is brought into contact with the counterpart device, and at least
It is retracted until it is flush with the surface, making it freely connectable to other devices without guide grooves.
Connector to be. 2. The free end of the lever is a lever front having a surface orthogonal to the surface of the housing, and the connector detection switch physically detects an electrical connection between a contact group and a contact of a mating device. moving to Buranja
The connector according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises. Wherein said lever is an elongated metal plate which is resilient in the interior of the housing, fixed to one end portion, retractable through an opening provided in the housing to the other end as a free end 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is formed . 4. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the lever is formed by integrally forming a cover having a U-shaped cross section from an intermediate portion to a free end . 5. The connector according to claim 3 , wherein a free end of the lever has a hook-like portion which is hooked on a part of an opening of the housing.