JPH0817101B2 - Low insertion / removal force multi-pole electrical connector assembly - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention uses a push lever to move a convex housing inserted in a concave housing at a right angle to a fitting surface so that contact between female and male terminals and The present invention relates to a low insertion / removal force multi-pole electrical connector assembly that can be detached with a small force, and can be used with either a waterproof type or a non-waterproof type.

[Conventional technology]

As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, a conventional electrical connector generally has a structure in which a convex housing 50 and a concave housing 51 are fitted to each other so that a female terminal 52 and a male terminal 53 inserted therein are brought into contact with each other. For electrical connection, the tab-like portion 55 of the male terminal 53 contacts the elastic contact piece 54 in the receiving portion of the female terminal 52. As the elastic contact piece 54, one in which a folded back reaction force piece 56 is provided at its free end to enhance the contact pressure is also used.

If the insertion force required for connecting such female and male terminals is about 500 gf per pole, 20 kg will produce 10 kg f
Since the locking force between the concave housings is also applied, it is difficult for the fitting work by human hands.

Then, when it becomes super multi-pole (60 to 90 poles)
As disclosed in JP 62-149612 A and JP 62-188188 A, there has been proposed a screw tightening type ultra-multipolar connector using a screw tightening force and a tool such as an impact wrench.

However, for intermediate connectors with 20 to 40 poles, if a screw tightening structure is adopted, the cost per pole increases due to the insert molding of bolts and nuts, etc., making it difficult to put into practical use.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-203581 discloses a method of fitting a convex housing, a concave housing and female and male terminals in the intermediate connector by using a cam driven slide.

In FIG. 10, 51 'is a concave housing, 50' is a convex housing, and 57 is an operating cam member. The female and male housings 50 ', 51' constituting a pair of connectors respectively accommodate terminals. It

The sleeve 58 of the recessed housing 51 'is fitted on the sleeve 58 of the fitting operation cam member 57, which is fitted over the sleeve 58, and has a long hole 59 for sliding guide.
Is formed, and a drive projection 60 that engages with the sliding guide elongated hole 59 and projects into the sleeve 58 is provided on the inner surface of the bifurcating frame-shaped fitting operation cam member 57. ing.

Then, on the opposite outer surfaces of the convex housing 50 ', a tapered driven groove 61b is formed following the introduction groove 61a into which the driving projection 60 enters.

In the above structure, the concave housing 5 is placed with the fitting operation cam member 57 positioned on one side of the concave housing 51 '.
By making the convex housing 50 'face the 1', the introducing groove 61a is made to face the drive projection 60 (Fig. 11a), and in this state, the convex housing 50 'is pushed to move the drive projection 60 from the introducing groove 61a. It is located at the entrance of the tapered driven groove 61b (
11 b), in this state, by moving the fitting operation cam member 57 to the right side in the drawing, the driving projection 60 pulls the convex housing into the inside through the tapered driven groove 61b, and connects both terminals. (Fig. 11c).

In the prior art shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, it is impossible to immediately assemble the convex housing 50 'unless the fitting operation cam member 57 is in the proper position with respect to the concave housing 51'. Before the fitting operation of the pair of housings, extra work is required to return the fitting operation cam member 57 to the normal position.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The present invention has been made paying attention to the above points, and does not require a troublesome work such as adjusting a push lever, which is a cam member for fitting operation, to a normal position, and allows fitting connection of female and male terminals. And withdrawal can be performed with a small force,
An object of the present invention is to provide a low insertion / extraction force multi-pole electrical connector assembly suitable as the intermediate connector.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, a low insertion / extraction force multi-pole electrical connector assembly includes a convex housing that accommodates a plurality of terminals,
A concave housing having a sleeve body for accommodating the mating terminal and receiving the convex housing, and a convex housing inserted in the sleeve body are moved in the axial direction of the terminal between the insertion position and the contact position of both terminals. And a cam mechanism for contacting and disengaging the terminals, the cam mechanism including a push lever in which a cam rod is obliquely connected to the lever body, and the recessed housing includes the terminal in the sleeve body. Has a lever guide hole that intersects with the axial direction, the convex housing has a cam insertion hole into which a cam rod is inserted, and sliding contact portions respectively corresponding to the fitting side and the disengaging side slope of the cam rod are provided. A low insertion force multi-pole electrical connector assembly having an upper end opening of a cam insertion hole, wherein the lever guide hole communicates with the introduction hole portion, and the cam rod communicates with the introduction hole portion. Passing through And a groove for forming a passage of the push lever is formed on a fitting surface of the convex housing with the concave housing, and a cam fitting portion having a cam insertion hole in a lower half of the groove. Is adopted.

Further, in the above structure, the cam fitting portion has a triangular plate-shaped lever lifting guide projecting forward from the fitting surface of the convex housing, and the concave housing communicates with the lever guide hole and the lifting guide. It is also effective to provide a lever elevating guide receiving portion for receiving the above, and a structure in which a waterproof rubber having a plurality of wire insertion holes is tightly plugged on the wire connection side of the convex and concave housings.

[Work]

In the electrical connector assembly of the present invention, the female and male terminals are fitted (or disengaged) by fitting both the concave and convex housings, and the fitting side (or the disengagement) of the cam rod of the push lever that constitutes the cam mechanism. Side) Slope is performed using the principle of the slide cam by the engagement of the slidable contact part (connector fitting protrusion or disengagement protrusion) in the cam insertion hole, so it is necessary to insert and remove the original female and male terminals. It can be performed with a small force of 50 to 70% of normal force. Other functions will be specifically described with reference to examples.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electric connector assembly according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a male connector, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a female connector, and FIG. FIG. 5 and FIG. 5 show aa line, bb line, and c- line in FIG.
The cross-sectional views along the line c are shown.

In these figures, M is a male connector, F is a female connector, and P is a push lever that completes fitting and electrical connection between the two.

The convex housing 1 made of synthetic resin of the male connector M has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 2 in the vertical and horizontal directions.
4 due to the wide central longitudinal groove 3 and the narrow central transverse groove 4
Each accommodation chamber block 5 is partitioned and formed, and each accommodation chamber 2 accommodates and locks a female terminal 7 of a known structure connected to an electric wire 6.

The concave housing 8 of the female connector F has therein a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 9 corresponding to the terminal accommodating chambers 2 of the male connector M, and each accommodating chamber 9 accommodates a male terminal 10 connected to the electric wire 6. It has been stopped. Further, a sleeve 11 for receiving the male connector M is formed at the front of the concave housing 8 so as to bulge out. The sleeve 11 corresponds to the accommodation chamber block 5 of the male connector M by a plurality of partition walls 12. It is divided into block storage chambers 13.

The push lever P has a cam rod 15 diagonally connected to the lower end of each columnar lever body 14 and an operation plate 16 for pressing at the upper end. The push lever P is formed of metal or synthetic resin as a rigid body. A short cam insertion guide parallel to the lever body 14 is attached to the tip of the cam rod 15.
It is preferable to provide 17 and to provide a locking projection 18 near the boundary between the lever body 14 and the cam rod 15.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the female connector F
The sleeve 11 is provided with a lever guide hole 19 and a lever elevating guide receiving portion 20 communicating with the hole 19.

The lever guide holes 19 are provided in the block storage chambers 13 and 1 on the left and right sides.
In the middle upper part of 3, there is provided in a direction intersecting with the axial direction of the male terminal 10 in a direction orthogonal to the embodiment, and as shown in FIG. It is formed in a divergent shape due to the expanding enlarged hole portion 19b. Further, an escape groove 21 for the projection 18 of the push lever P is provided on the vertical wall surface of the lever guide hole 19.

The lever raising / lowering guide receiving portion 20 is a groove for receiving a lever raising / lowering guide 24, which will be described later, and includes an opening portion 20a communicating with the lever guide hole 19 and a single trapezoidal space portion 20b.

Further, in the central longitudinal groove 3 of the male connector M, a cam fitting portion 22 composed of a single trapezoidal plate body is formed in the lower half portion thereof, and the fitting portion 22 has a cam insertion hole 23. And a triangular plate-shaped lever lifting guide protruding from the front of the male connector M
Composed of 24.

The cam insertion hole 23 is sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the cam rod 15 of the push lever P, and is formed according to its inclination.
A connector fitting projection 25 is provided on one of the upper end openings (right side in the figure), and a connector detaching projection 25 'is provided on the other. Further, the cam rod 15 is provided at the lower end of the cam insertion hole 23.
It is preferable to provide a guide insertion hole 26 for the cam insertion guide 17 at the tip of the.

Next, the fitting of the female and male connectors F and M by the push lever P and the connection of the female and male terminals 7 and 10 will be described (FIGS. 6a to 6f and 7a to 7c).

As shown in Fig. 6a, before fitting both connectors,
The push lever P is inserted into the lever guide hole 19 of the female connector F, and the protrusion 18 forms the upper wall 20c of the lever lifting guide receiving portion 20.
Is engaged and locked. Therefore, the push lever P
Does not come off from the female connector F or protrude upward.

The push lever P can be easily inserted by inserting the cam insertion guide 17 at the tip thereof into the introduction hole 19a and tilting the lever P along the tapered surface of the enlarged hole 19b.

With the push lever P inserted and locked or in the state where the lock is released and slightly lifted (not shown), the lever lifting guide 24 of the male connector M is inserted into the lever lifting guide receiving portion 20 and the fitting is performed. When started, the tip of the cam rod 15 (cam insertion guide 17) rides on the slope 24a of the lever elevating guide 24.

Continuing to insert the male connector M as shown in FIGS. 6b and 6c,
The push lever P ascends as the lever elevating guide 24 enters, and projects to the upper part of the female connector F.

From the state of FIG. 6c, the male connector M is further connected to the female connector F.
6d, the tip of the push lever P (cam insertion guide 17) slightly enters the cam insertion hole 23 of the male connector M as shown in FIG. 6d. This allows female and male connectors
F and M are temporarily locked.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the female and male terminals 7 and 10 are on the verge of contact or in the state of starting contact.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6e, when the push lever P is strongly pushed down, the mating side inclined surface 15a of the cam rod 15 is slidably engaged with the connector fitting projection 25, and the male connector M is indicated by the arrow Q. Advance to the female connector F side.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7B, the tab-shaped portion 10a of the male terminal 10 is fitted and inserted up to the middle of the receiving portion 7a of the female terminal 7, and both terminals 7 and 10 are in a semi-connected state.

When the push lever P is further strongly pressed from the state shown in FIG. 6e, the fitting between the male connector M and the female connector F is completed as shown in FIG. 6f, and at the same time, the female and male terminals are shown as shown in FIG. 7c. 7,
10 connections are also perfect. Further, the push lever P is the sixth
Since the state returns to the state shown in FIG. A, the projection 18 and the upper wall 20c are engaged with each other to prevent the female and male connectors F and M from being separated.

The female and male connectors F, M can be separated by pulling up the push lever P by the operation opposite to that in FIGS. Fig. 6f
As shown in FIG. 1, first, the locked state of the push lever P is released, that is, the push lever P is disengaged from the projection 18 and the upper wall 20c of the lever lifting guide receiving portion 20. When the push lever P is pulled up, as shown in FIG. 6e, the detaching side inclined surface 15b of the cam rod 15 is slidably engaged with the connector detaching projection 25 ', and the male connector M is moved to the side opposite to the arrow line Q. . At this time, as shown in FIG. 7b, the tab-shaped portion 10a of the male terminal 10 is pulled out to the middle of the receiving portion 7a of the female terminal 7, and both terminals 7, 10 are in a semi-connected state.

When the pulling is continued, as shown in FIG. 6d, the tip of the push lever P (cam insertion guide 17) is slightly caught in the cam insertion hole 23 of the male connector M, and the female and male terminals 7 and 10 are temporarily locked. Become. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the female and male terminals 7 and 10 are on the verge of dissociation (just before the male terminal 10 is dissociated from the female terminal 7).

When it is further pulled up, the tip of the push lever P is disengaged from the cam insertion hole 23 of the male connector M. At this time, the female and male terminals 7 and 10 are completely dissociated (from the female terminal 7 to the male terminal 10).
Is completely dissociated).

Next, when the male connector M is separated from the female connector F,
As shown in FIG. 6c, the tip of the push lever P descends from the slope 24a of the lever lifting guide 24. Further, when the male connector M is separated, the push lever P descends as the lever elevating guide 24 retreats as shown in FIG. 6b, and hits the upper portion of the female connector F as shown in FIG. 6a. At this time, the male connector M is completely separated from the female connector F.

The above description has been given of the example in which the central longitudinal groove 3 and the central transverse groove 4 are provided in the fitting surface of the convex housing 1 with the concave housing 8 in a crossed manner, but the grooves 3 and 4 are omitted and the convex housing 1 is omitted. Only the passage (or groove) that allows the push lever P to enter may be provided in the above fitting surface.

Further, the connector fitting protrusion 25 and the detachment protrusion 25 'in the cam insertion hole 23 may be omitted, and the hole 23 and the cam rod 15 may be brought into direct sliding contact.

Furthermore, since the lever lifting guide 24 of the male connector M does not directly engage with the cam rod 15 of the push lever P,
It can be omitted.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an electric connector assembly in a fitted state showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

That is, rubber plug fitting frames 27, 27 having an enlarged diameter are formed on the electric wire connection sides of the convex housing 1 and the concave housing 8 in the female and male connectors F, M, respectively, and a plurality of electric wires are formed in the frame 27. The waterproof rubber plug 28 having the insertion hole 29 is tightly plugged, and the male body M has a fitting portion outer peripheral surface (fitting side outer peripheral surface of each accommodation chamber block 5 in FIG. 1) with the sleeve 11 (or block). A packing 30 that is pressure-tight with the inner wall of the accommodation chamber 13) is externally inserted. 31 is a packing fitting groove.

Mating of female and male connectors F, M by push lever P,
The detaching operation is the same as above.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the fitting / disengaging operations of the female and male connectors can be performed with a small force by using the cam mechanism.

The push lever operation does not require a tool such as an impact wrench unlike the screw tightening type multi-pole connector, which improves workability and allows the presence or absence of protrusion from the female connector of the lever to be seen at a glance. Helps prevent full mating.

In addition, the cam rod of the push lever and the cam insertion hole are aligned with little effort, and particularly when the lever elevating guide is provided, the position is automatically adjusted, so it is easy to operate. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of an electric connector assembly according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of the male connector in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a female connector in FIG. III-III line sectional view of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the same female and male connector in the fitted state, and FIG. 5 is aa line, bb of each component in FIG.
6A to 6F are cross-sectional views showing a fitting process of the female and male connectors by the push lever, and FIGS. 7A to 7C are 6D to 6F respectively. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a connecting process of corresponding female and male terminals, FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of an electric connector assembly according to the present invention in a fitted state, and FIGS. Female in connector,
FIG. 10 is a disassembled perspective view of a conventional electrical connector assembly showing a male terminal before connection (a) and after connection (b), and FIGS. It is a top view which shows a process. M: Male connector, F: Female connector, P ... Push lever, 1 ... Convex housing, 3 ... Central vertical groove, 7
...... Female terminal, 8 ...... Concave housing, 10 ...... Male terminal, 11
…… Body, 14 …… Lever body, 15 …… Cam bar, 15a…
… Mating side slope, 15b… Releasing side slope, 19 …… Lever guide hole, 19a …… Introduction hole, 19b …… Enlargement hole, 20 …… Lever lifting guide receiving part, 22 …… Cam fitting part , 23 …… Cam insertion hole, 24 …… Lever lifting guide, 25 …… Connector fitting protrusion, 25 ′ …… Connector releasing protrusion, 28 …… Waterproof rubber stopper.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-2-304879 (JP, A) JP-A-1-159978 (JP, A) JP-A-63-298985 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A convex housing containing a plurality of terminals,
A concave housing having a sleeve body for accommodating the mating terminal and receiving the convex housing, and a convex housing inserted in the sleeve body are moved in the axial direction of the terminal between the insertion position and the contact position of both terminals. And a cam mechanism for contacting and disengaging the terminals, the cam mechanism including a push lever in which a cam rod is obliquely connected to the lever body, and the recessed housing includes the terminal in the sleeve body. Has a lever guide hole that intersects with the axial direction, the convex housing has a cam insertion hole into which a cam rod is inserted, and sliding contact portions respectively corresponding to the fitting side and the disengaging side slope of the cam rod are provided. A low insertion force multi-pole electrical connector assembly having an upper end opening of a cam insertion hole, wherein the lever guide hole communicates with the introduction hole portion, and the cam rod communicates with the introduction hole portion. Passing through And a groove for forming a passage of the push lever is formed on a fitting surface of the convex housing with the concave housing, and a cam fitting portion having a cam insertion hole in a lower half of the groove. A multi-pole electrical connector assembly with low insertion / extraction force, characterized in that 2. The cam fitting portion has a triangular plate-shaped lever elevating guide projecting forward from the fitting surface of the convex housing, and the concave housing communicates with the lever guide hole and the elevating guide. 2. A low insertion / removal force multi-pole electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a lever elevating guide receiving portion for receiving the. 3. The low insertion / removal force multi-pole electrical connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein waterproof rubber having a plurality of wire insertion holes is tightly plugged on the wire connection side of the convex and concave housings.