JP7280819B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided with a locking mechanism for locking a mated state with a mating connector.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration described in Patent Document 1 as a conventional example of this type of connector. FIG. 7 shows a female connector provided with a lock arm and a mating male connector. there is

The male connector 10 includes a male connector housing 11 having a square tubular receptacle 11a, in which a plurality of male terminal fittings 12 are accommodated. The male terminal fitting 12 is fixedly connected to the insulated wire 13, and is fixed in the cavity 11b of the male connector housing 11 with the tip protruding into the receptacle 11a. An engaging hole 14 is formed on the top end side of the receptacle 11a.

On the other hand, the female connector housing 21 of the female connector 20 has a rectangular tubular shape that can be fitted into the receptacle 11a of the male connector housing 11, and accommodates female terminal fittings 22 in the cavity 21a. The female terminal fitting 22 is fixedly connected to an insulated wire 23 .

A locking arm 24 extending in the direction in which the two connectors 10 and 20 are mated is projected from the upper surface of the female connector housing 21 via a support leg 25 in a cantilevered manner, and presses an operating portion 24a at its tip. As a result, the lock arm 24 tilts in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7 with the support leg 25 as a fulcrum.

An engagement projection 26 is protruded approximately in the center of the lock arm 24, and the female connector housing 21 is completely inserted into the receptacle 11a of the male connector housing 11 to completely fit the two connectors 10, 20 together. Then, the engaging protrusion 26 of the lock arm 24 enters and engages with the engaging hole 14 of the receptacle 11a. FIG. 8 shows the mating state of the two connectors 10, 20 locked by the lock arm 24. FIG.

JP-A-9-55259

By the way, like the female connector 20 described above, there is a cantilever-like lock having one end as a fulcrum, the other end as an operating portion, and a projection that engages with the engaging portion of the mating connector in the middle. In a connector provided with an arm, it is necessary to displace the operating portion by a distance greater than the height dimension of the projection in order to unlock it. Therefore, the height of the connector is increased to secure the vertical stroke of the operation part, and the height of the connector is further increased if the height of the projection is sufficiently secured to obtain a good locked state. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such circumstances, the object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of reducing the vertical stroke required for unlocking while ensuring a good locked state, thereby reducing the height of the connector. to do.

According to the invention of claim 1, in the connector provided with the lock lever for locking the mated state with the mating connector, the lock lever is a protrusion that engages with the engaging portion provided on the operating portion and the mating connector. is formed integrally with the housing that accommodates and holds the terminals so as to rotate about the rotation axis. Further, when the two directions perpendicular to each other are the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the lock lever has an operating portion positioned above the upper surface of the housing and extending in the horizontal direction, and an operating portion extending from both lateral ends of the operating portion. Each of the two side portions has a connecting portion, a rotation fulcrum, and a protrusion, which are connected and fixed to the side surfaces along the left and right sides of the housing. The line passing through the two pivot points forms a pivot shaft parallel to the left-right direction, the operation part is positioned behind the pivot shaft in the front-rear direction, and the two projections on the two side parts are in the front-rear direction It is assumed to be positioned forward of the rotation shaft and projected downward.

According to the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, the radius of rotation of each projection about the rotation axis is made larger than the radius of rotation of the operating portion about the rotation axis.

According to the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, in each of the two side portions, the pivot point is configured as an elastically deformable portion connected to the connecting portion.

In the present application, a movement that continuously displaces within a rotational orbit about a specific axis is referred to as rotation. A point at which the rotation axis passes through a plane containing the specific rotation track is called a rotation fulcrum.

According to this invention, it is possible to shorten the vertical stroke of the operating portion of the lock lever accompanying locking and unlocking with the mating connector. Since the height from the base can be reduced, the connector can be configured with a low profile accordingly.

A is a side view showing one embodiment of the connector according to the present invention, B is its front view, C is its bottom view, and D is its perspective view. A is a side view of a mating connector to be fitted with the connector shown in FIG. 1, B is a rear view thereof, C is a cross-sectional view of B along the line EE, and D is a perspective view thereof. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state before the connector shown in FIG. 1 and the mating connector shown in FIG. 2 are mated; A is a perspective view from above showing a mating state of the connector shown in FIG. 1 and the mating connector shown in FIG. 2, and B is a mating state of the connector shown in FIG. 1 and the mating connector shown in FIG. The perspective view seen from the downward direction which shows a state. FIG. 3 is a view showing a mating process of the connector shown in FIG. 1 and the mating connector shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detachment process of the connector shown in FIG. 1 and the mating connector shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional male and female connector with a locking mechanism; FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a mating state of the male and female connectors shown in FIG. 7;

Embodiments of the present invention will be described by examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a connector according to the present invention. In this example, a connector 100 comprises a housing 30 made of insulating resin, a lock lever 40 for locking a mated state with a mating connector, and socket terminals. 51 , a grommet 52 and a retainer 53 . The illustration of electric wires connected to the socket terminals 51 is omitted.

The housing 30 has a rectangular tubular shape, and in this example, accommodates and holds nine socket terminals 51 therein. Nine holes 31 are formed in the front surface 30a of the housing 30, and the nine socket terminals 51 are housed in the housing 30 so that their tips face the holes 31, respectively.

Hereinafter, the direction of mating the connector 100 with respect to the mating connector is defined as the front, and the direction of disengagement from the connector is defined as the rear. do. The front surface 30a of the housing 30 is located at the front end of the connector 100 in the front-rear direction and faces forward.

A grommet 52 is arranged at the rear end of the housing 30 , and a retainer 53 is attached so that the grommet 52 is held between the housing 30 and the retainer 53 . The retainer 53 is formed with a pair of extension pieces 53a extending along the upper surface 30b and the lower surface 30c of the housing 30, respectively. The retainer 53 is attached and fixed to the housing 30 by being hooked on the protruding portion 32 .

The grommet 52 is formed with nine holes 52a through which electric wires respectively connected to the nine socket terminals 51 are passed. Three are formed.

The lock lever 40 is integrally formed with the housing 30 , and includes an operation portion 41 positioned above the upper surface 30 b of the housing 30 and extending in the left-right direction. It consists of two side portions 42 along the left and right side surfaces 30d and 30e, respectively. The operating portion 41 is located on the extension piece 53a of the retainer 53 located on the upper surface 30b of the housing 30 in this example.

The two side portions 42 each include a first extension portion 43 extending downward from the operation portion 41 , a second extension portion 44 extending forward from the lower end of the first extension portion 43 , and the first extension portions 43 . A reinforcing portion 45 that fills the corner formed by the second extending portion 44 in a brace shape, a projection 46 provided on the second extending portion 44, a connecting portion 47, and a support portion 48. Become.

The support portion 48 extends downward from a portion of the second extension portion 44 near the rear end, and the lower end thereof is connected to the connecting portion 47 . Let the support part 48 be a site|part which can be elastically deformed. The connecting portion 47 is connected and fixed to the side surface 30d (30e) of the housing 30 along which the side portion 42 extends. there is

The lock lever 40 is rotated by the elastic deformation of the support portion 48, and the rotation fulcrum P is the portion where the support portion 48 is connected and supported by the connecting portion 47 as shown in FIG. 1A. can be regarded as A line passing through the two pivot points P of the two side portions 42 is parallel to the left-right direction and constitutes a pivot axis a. In FIG. 1D, the dashed line indicates the rotation axis a.

The projection 46 is formed to protrude downward from the front end of the second extension portion 44, and the two projections 46 on the two side portions 42 of the lock lever 40 are positioned forward of the pivot shaft a in the front-rear direction. , the operating portion 41 is located behind the pivot shaft a in the front-rear direction. An inclined surface 46 a is formed at the front end of the protrusion 46 to reach the front end of the second extension portion 44 .

In the lock lever 40 having such a structure, when the operating portion 41 is pushed downward as indicated by the arrow Q, the operating portion 41 and the projection 46 rotate around the rotation axis a. A double arrow R indicates the direction of rotation. The portions located between the operation portion 41 and the projection 46, that is, the first extension portion 43 and the second extension portion 44 reinforced by the reinforcement portion 45 function as rigid bodies.

FIG. 2 shows a mating connector to be fitted with the connector 100 described above. The mating connector 200 includes a housing 60 and a front housing 70 made of insulating resin, pin terminals 81, grommets 82, and retainers 83. , and a seal ring 84 . The illustration of electric wires connected to the pin terminals 81 is omitted.

The housing 60 has a rectangular tubular shape and accommodates and holds nine pin terminals 81 . The tip sides of these pin terminals 81 are positioned so as to protrude into the opening 61 on the tip side of the housing 60 . The front housing 70 is inserted into the opening 61 of the housing 60 , and the seal ring 84 arranged on the inner bottom surface of the opening 61 is sandwiched between the front housing 70 and the housing 60 . The front housing 70 has upper and lower guide pieces 71 protruding from the opening 61 of the housing 60 .

Of the side walls surrounding the opening 61 of the housing 60, left and right side walls 62 and 63 are provided with cutouts 64 that are cut out from the tip side thereof. A pair of extension pieces 65 are formed on the housing 60 . A pair of extension pieces 65 are formed to protrude from the tips of the side walls 62 and 63, and two protrusions 46 of the lock lever 40 of the connector 100 are engaged with the inner surfaces of the projecting ends of the extension pieces 65 facing each other. A mating engagement portion 66 is formed. In this example, the engaging portion 66 is a convex portion projecting from the inner surface of the extension piece 65 in the shape of a prism.

The grommet 82 and retainer 83 have the same configuration as the grommet 52 and retainer 53 of the connector 100 in this example, and are attached to the rear surface of the housing 60 opposite to the opening 61 . The retainer 83 is attached and fixed to the housing 60 by hooking projections 67 protruding from the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 60 at windows 83b formed in a pair of extension pieces 83a. 2B, 82a indicates a hole formed in the grommet 82, and 83c indicates an opening formed in the retainer 83. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 face each other before they are mated, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 are mated. It is a thing. The front end side of the housing 30 of the connector 100 is guided by the guide pieces 71 of the front housing 70 of the mating connector 200 and inserted into the opening 61 of the housing 60 of the mating connector 200, thereby connecting the corresponding socket terminals 51 and pin terminals. 81 are fitted and connected to each other. The front end sides of the two second extensions 44 of the lock lever 40 of the connector 100 are inserted into the notches 64 respectively provided in the side walls 62, 63 of the housing 60 of the mating connector 200, and the protrusions 46 are engaged with the engaging portions. By engaging and hooking with 66, the fitted state is locked.

The operation of the lock lever 40 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 5 shows the operation of the lock lever 40 during the mating process of the connector 100 and the mating connector 200, and FIG. 6 shows the operation of the lock lever 40 during the disengagement process of the connector 100 and the mating connector 200. It is. In addition, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the essential parts are shown in a perspective view.

<Mating process>
When the connector 100 is pushed into the mating connector from the state shown in FIG. bump into. Since the protrusion 46 is formed with an inclined surface 46a, when the connector 100 is further pushed in, a force is applied to the protrusion 46 to push the protrusion 46 upward. It rotates as shown in (2).

Then, when the connector 100 is further pushed in and the projection 46 of the rotated lock lever 40 climbs over the engaging portion 66, the elastic restoring force of the elastically deformed support portion 48 of the lock lever 40 causes the lock lever 40 to move as shown in FIG. ), the protrusion 46 is hooked on the engaging portion 66, and the mating state of the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 is locked.

<Withdrawal process>
To unlock the locked state between the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 shown in FIG. push down. Since the operating portion 41 is located at a position shifted rearward from the rotation axis a, when a force is applied to the operating portion 41 to push down the operating portion 41, the lock lever 40 rotates as shown in FIG. 6(2). The lock lever 40 rotates about the driving axis a, thereby displacing the projection 46 of the lock lever 40 upward, releasing the engagement with the engaging portion 66 of the mating connector 200, and separating the connector 100 from the mating connector 200. becomes possible. FIG. 6(3) shows a state in which the connector 100 is pulled out while the operation portion 41 of the lock lever 40 is pushed down, and the connector 100 is separated from the mating connector 200. FIG.

The operation of the lock lever 40 has been described above. According to the connector 100 having the lock lever 40 that operates in this manner, the following effects can be obtained.

When the protrusion 46 of the lock lever 40 is displaced on the rotational orbit of rotation to be locked or rotated by a rotation angle necessary for unlocking, the operation part 41 is also rotated by the same rotation angle. Due to the positional relationship between 41 , the rotation shaft a, and the projection 46 , the vertical displacement caused by the rotation of the operating portion 41 can be made smaller than the vertical displacement caused by the rotation of the projection 46 .

Therefore, compared with the conventional lock arm shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the vertical stroke of the operating portion can be shortened, and the height of the connector can be reduced accordingly.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5(1), the radius of rotation of the protrusion 46 about the rotation axis a is defined as r1, and the radius of rotation of the operating portion 41 about the rotation axis a is defined as r2. If r1 is set to be larger than r2, the vertical displacement caused by the rotation of the operating portion 41 can be made smaller than the vertical displacement caused by the rotation of the protrusion 46, thereby making the connector more flexible. Further reduction in height is possible.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 male connector 11 male connector housing 11a hood 11b cavity 12 male terminal fitting 13 insulated wire 14 engagement hole 20 female connector 21 female connector housing 21a cavity 22 female terminal fitting 23 insulated wire 24 lock arm 24a operating portion 25 support leg Part 26 Engagement projection 30 Housing 30a Front surface 30b Upper surface 30c Lower surface 30d, 30e Side surface 31 Hole 32 Convex portion 40 Lock lever 41 Operation portion 42 Side portion 43 First extension portion 44 Second extension portion 45 Reinforcing portion 46 Projection 46a Inclined surface 47 Connecting portion 48 Supporting portion 51 Socket terminal 52 Grommet 52a Hole 53 Retainer 53a Extension piece 53b Window 53c Opening 60 Housing 61 Openings 62, 63 Side wall 64 Notch 65 Extension piece 66 Engagement portion 66a Inclined surface 67 Projection 70 Front housing 71 Guide piece 81 Pin terminal 82 Grommet 82a Hole 83 Retainer 83a Extension piece 83b Window 83c Opening 84 Seal ring 100 Connector 200 Mating connector

Claims (3)

A connector having a lock lever that locks a mated state with a mating connector,
The lock lever is integrally formed with a housing for accommodating and holding the terminal so that the operating portion and the protrusion engaged with the engaging portion provided on the mating connector rotate about a rotation axis,
When the mating direction of the connector with respect to the mating connector is the front, the disengagement direction is the rear, and the two directions that are perpendicular to the front-rear direction and are perpendicular to each other are the vertical direction and the horizontal direction,
The lock lever includes the operation portion positioned above the upper surface of the housing and extending in the left-right direction, and two side portions extending from both left and right ends of the operation portion and extending along the left and right side surfaces of the housing. has
Each of the two side portions includes a connecting portion connected and fixed to the side surface along the side portion, a pivot point, and one of the protrusions;
A line passing through the two pivot points of the two side portions constitutes the pivot shaft parallel to the left-right direction,
The operating portion is positioned rearward of the rotating shaft in the front-rear direction,
The connector, wherein the two protrusions on the two side portions are positioned forward of the rotating shaft in the front-rear direction and protrude downward. A connector according to claim 1, wherein
A connector, wherein a radius of rotation of each of said projections about said rotation axis is larger than a radius of rotation of said operating portion about said rotation axis. 3. The connector according to claim 1 or 2,
A connector according to claim 1, wherein, in each of said two side portions, said pivot point is configured as an elastically deformable portion connected to said connecting portion.

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