JPH08167448A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a lever of a lever type connector from coming off out of its connector housing while its rotation is being operated. CONSTITUTION: A lever 40 is rotatably provided for a female connector housing 21 via each pivot 27. A split groove 28 which enables each pivot to be elastically deformed in contracting its diameter, is formed at the tip end of each pivot, concurrently each retaining diameter enlarged section 29 and each guide oblique surface section 30 are formed at the tip end of each diameter enlarged section. Meanwhile, the lever 40 is formed with pivot insertion holes 43 in which each pivot 27 is inserted, and with housing recessed sections 44 housing each retaining diameter enlarged section 29 for the pivot 27 with the inside of each insertion hole enlarged in a stepped shape, and the retaining diameter enlarged sections 29 are thereby housed in the lever 40 in a state that they are buried in the lever.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector which uses a fitting assisting member to engage and disengage the connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this type of connector, for example, a lever type connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-627724 is known. In the structure shown in the publication, a large number of male terminals are arranged in a male connector housing, a large number of female terminals are arranged in a female connector housing, and a lever as a fitting assisting member is provided in the male connector housing. Is rotatably mounted around a spindle. This lever has a U-shape with arms on both sides and a cam groove on the arms.

On the other hand, a cam projection is provided on the female connector housing, and when both connectors are fitted, the lever is held at the fitting start position so that the cam projection of the female connector housing is engaged with the cam groove of the lever. After that, by rotating the lever toward the mating completion position, the female connector housing is displaced to the male connector housing side by the cam action of the cam groove, and the mating of both connectors is performed.

By the way, in this type of connector, in the process of rotating the lever to fit both connectors, a large resistance acts on the lever operation due to the fitting of the male and female terminals. In order to completely fit both connectors, it is necessary to operate the lever to the mating completion position against the insertion resistance, but if the lever operation force is increased, the lever operation part will be concave. The arm portion of the lever expands to both sides accordingly. Then, there is a risk that the arm portion will come off the spindle. As a measure against such inconvenience, for example, a technique is known in which a guide wall is provided in a connector housing having a lever mounted thereon to prevent the arm portion from expanding.

[0005]

However, in the measure to provide the guide wall, there is a problem that the width of the connector housing is widened by the width of the guide wall, which leads to an increase in size of the entire connector housing.

Further, it is conceivable to attach a washer for preventing the slip-off to the tip of the support shaft of the lever, but this leads to an increase in the number of parts and a decrease in assembling workability.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector which can prevent the fitting assisting member from coming off the connector housing with a simple structure.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a support shaft is provided in a protruding manner on one connector housing of connectors to be fitted to each other, and the support shaft is adapted to engage and disengage both connectors. In the case where the fitting assisting member is rotatably provided, a split groove for elastically reducing the diameter is formed at the tip of the support shaft, and the support shaft insertion hole of the fitting assisting member of the support shaft is formed. It is characterized in that a large-diameter portion for retaining that is larger in diameter than the inner diameter of the support shaft insertion hole is provided in the penetrating portion.
Invention).

Further, the fitting assisting member may be formed with an accommodating recess for accommodating a large diameter preventing portion of the support shaft by enlarging the inner diameter of the support shaft insertion hole in a stepped manner. Invention), a tapered guide slope portion having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the support shaft insertion hole may be formed on the distal end side of the large-diameter retaining portion (invention of claim 3).

[0010]

With the fitting auxiliary member attached to the connector housing by the support shaft, the fitting auxiliary member is rotated to perform the fitting operation of both connectors. Even if a large fitting resistance acts on the fitting assisting member and the fitting assisting member flexes and deforms in the pull-out direction from the support shaft, the tip end side of the support shaft penetrates the support shaft insertion hole of the fitting assisting member. Since the large diameter portion for preventing slippage is formed in the portion to be closed, the fitting auxiliary member is restricted from coming off from the spindle. Even if the retaining shaft has the large-diameter retaining portion as described above, since the split groove is formed at the tip of the supporting shaft to allow elastic contraction deformation, the fitting assisting member is formed. When attaching the to the connector housing,
If the tip of the fitting assisting member is simply pushed into the support shaft insertion hole so as to be pressed in, the support shaft is reduced in diameter in the split groove portion so that the support shaft can be easily mounted.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2 in which the fitting auxiliary member is formed with the accommodating recess, the large-diameter retaining portion at the tip of the support shaft is accommodated in the accommodating recess and protrudes from the side surface of the fitting assisting member. In the invention of claim 3, in which the tapered guide slope portion is formed on the large-diameter portion for preventing removal of the fitting assisting member, the guide slope portion guides the insertion of the support shaft into the support shaft insertion hole.

[0012]

As described above, according to the connector of the present invention, the fitting auxiliary member is detached from the support shaft with a simple structure in which the large diameter preventing portion is integrally formed at the tip of the support shaft. There is an effect that it can be surely prevented, and that the fitting operation of the fitting assisting member is very easy due to the presence of the split groove while having the large diameter portion for preventing slippage. Particularly, according to the invention of claim 2, since the tip of the support shaft does not project from the side surface of the fitting assisting member, the connector can be made more compact. The effect that the sex is further significantly improved is obtained.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(Structure of Embodiment) The overall structure of both connectors is as shown in FIG. A male connector 10 is shown on the left side of the figure, and a female connector 20 is shown on the right side. The male connector 10 has a configuration in which a large number of male terminals 12 are mounted in a flat cylindrical male connector housing 11 having one end open and the other end closed. For example, two guide wall portions 13 extend toward the opening side. The male terminal 12 is provided with a large-sized terminal group having a large current capacity and a small-sized terminal group having a small current capacity in separate arrangement regions.

On the male connector housing 11, a pair of cam action pins 14 are coaxially projected on the left and right sides of the male connector housing 11, and the disengagement pieces 1 are provided above the respective cam action pins 14.
5 are protrudingly provided.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the female connector 20 has a structure in which a large number of female terminals 22 are mounted in a female connector housing 21 which also has a flat tubular shape. The female connector housing 21 corresponds to one connector housing of the present invention, and the male connector housing 11 corresponding to the other connector housing can be fitted to the outer peripheral side of the female connector housing 21. 1
A waterproof seal 23 for sealing between the female connector housing 1 and the connector 1 is fitted to the outer periphery of the female connector housing 21 on the base end side. Further, the female connector housing 21 is integrally formed with a hood portion 24 surrounding the outer peripheral side of the fitted male connector housing 11, and the male connector housing 11 has the hood portion 24 and the female connector housing 21. It is designed to be inserted between them. It should be noted that guide slits 25 into which the cam action pins 14 of the female connector housing 21 can enter when the male connector housing 11 is inserted into the hood portion 24 and the disengagement pieces 1 are provided on both left and right sides of the hood portion 24.
And an engaging hole 26 into which 5 can enter (see FIG. 2).

The hood portion 24 of the female connector housing 21
A pair of support shafts 27, which are located on the extension lines of the guide slits 25, for mounting a lever 40, which will be described later, are provided coaxially on both left and right sides of the shaft. This support shaft 27
As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a split groove 28 having a V-shaped cross section is formed so as to vertically divide the shaft from the tip thereof, whereby the tip can be elastically reduced in diameter. Also,
At the tip of the support shaft 27, there is a large diameter portion 2 for retaining that has a larger diameter than the base end side
9 is formed, and the tip end side thereof is a tapered guide slope portion 30 having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the support shaft 27 on the base end side. At the left and right ends of the split groove 28, the large diameter prevention portion 2 for preventing slippage is formed in a direction orthogonal to the extension direction of the split groove 28.
9 has been cut off, and the retaining large diameter portion 29 has a vertically elongated oval shape.

The lever 40, which is a fitting assisting member, has a bridge portion 4
Two leg portions 42 are provided on both the left and right sides of 1 to form a U-shape as a whole.
In order to make 7 penetrate, a spindle insertion hole 43 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the spindle 27 is formed.
On the tip end side of each support shaft insertion hole 43 (on the side opposite to the male connector housing 11), the inner diameter of the support shaft insertion hole 43 is enlarged in a stepped manner so that the support shaft 27 has a large diameter portion 2 for retaining.
A housing recess 44 for housing 9 is formed, and the support shaft 27 is passed through the support shaft insertion hole 43 so that the lever 40 has a "fitting start position" shown in FIG. 1 and a "fitting completion position" shown in FIG. It is rotatably supported around the support shaft 27 between. In addition,
In this supported state, the large diameter prevention portion 29 is housed so as to be buried in the housing recess 44, and the lever 40 to the support shaft 27 are accommodated.
The tip of the does not stick out.

As shown in FIG. 2, a cam groove 45 is formed on the back side of the lever 40 (on the male connector housing 11 side), and when the male connector housing 11 is inserted, the cam action pin 14 is inserted and engaged therewith. be able to. The cam groove 45 has an arc shape whose curvature gradually changes as a whole, and the lever 40 is rotated from the "fitting start position" shown in FIG. 1 to the "fitting completion position" shown in FIG. Along with this, the cam action pin 14 and thus the male connector housing 11 is displaced toward the female connector housing 21 side by the "cam action" so that both connectors are fitted.

Further, an elastic protrusion 46 is formed integrally with the lever 40 near the base of each leg 42 of the lever 40, and this is in a state of protruding toward the back side of the lever 40. The elastic projection 46 is adapted to fit into the engagement hole 26 of the hood portion 24 and engage when the lever 40 is at the “fitting start position”, and cooperates with the engagement hole 26. A locking mechanism for holding the lever 40 at the "fitting start position" is configured.

An electric wire cover 60 is provided on the rear side of the female connector housing 21. This wire cover 60
Is a shape that surrounds an electric wire w group (illustrated only in FIG. 3) connected to the female terminal 22 from the outside, and the electric wire w group is led out from a rear opening portion 61 (left side in FIG. 3) of the cover 60. Female connector housing 21 of the wire cover 60
A mounting groove 62 is formed on the inner side surface on the side, and the mounting groove 62 is formed on the rear surface of the female connector housing 21 to fit the female connector housing 21. It is slidable in the direction of the arrow.

A pair of cam projections 63 are provided on one side surface of the electric wire cover 60 at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire cover 60, and an inclined surface 64 is formed on the front side in the arrow direction. The bridge 41 of the lever 40 is provided with a cam receiving recess 48 for accommodating the cam protrusion 63 of the wire cover 60 when the lever 40 is rotated to the “fitting completion position”, and the cam protrusion 63 is inclined. A similar inclined surface 49 is formed on a portion corresponding to the surface 64. Therefore, the lever 40
When the wire cover 60 is moved in the direction of the arrow when is in the “fitting completion position”, the inclined surface 64 of the cam projection 63 pushes up the inclined surface 49 of the cam receiving recess 48, and the lever 40 is “fitted”. It can be rotated upward from the "completion position".

A substantially L-shaped engaging claw 51 is provided at the center of the bridging portion 41 of the lever 40, and a hook-shaped portion 52 at the tip thereof extends toward the tip side of the wire cover 60. On the other hand, the electric wire cover 60 is integrally formed with a U-shaped hook portion 65 located at an intermediate portion of the cam protrusion 63.
The lock mechanism 54 of the lever 40 is configured by these. Further, a projecting piece 32 is formed at the center of one side surface portion of the female connector housing 21 so as to overlap the side surface portion of the wire cover 60 with a space, and a locking hole 33 is formed therein. Further, a locking projection 66 is integrally projected at a position corresponding to the projecting piece 32 in the electric wire cover 60, and the tip of the locking projection 66 can enter the locking hole 33.
These form a locking mechanism 67 for holding the wire cover 60 in the "lock position". The locking projection 6
6 has a triangular plate shape having inclined surfaces on both sides, and in the "locked position", as shown in FIG. 4, a locking projection 66 abuts against the side of the projecting piece 32 and is locked.

(Operation of Embodiment) In the above structure, in order to mount the lever 40 on the female connector housing 21 from the state shown in FIG. 2, first, the pair of levers 40 are paired and the opposite leg portions 42 are pushed apart. While doing so, the support shaft insertion hole 43 of each leg 42 is applied to the tip of the support shaft 27.
In this way, the guide slope 3 located at the tip of the support shaft 27
Since 0 is slightly inserted into the support shaft insertion hole 43 (see FIG. 9), the leg portion 42 of the lever 40 is pressed against the female connector housing 21 side here. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the retaining large diameter portion 29 of the support shaft 27 elastically deforms to close the split groove 28, and the support shaft 27 is allowed to enter the support shaft insertion hole 43. As shown in FIG. 11, when the retaining large diameter portion 29 enters the accommodating recess 44, it elastically restores and deforms. Inserting the support shafts 27 into both support shafts 27
As for the lever 40, the female connector housing 2
1 is rotatably mounted.

Next, in order to connect both connectors, the lever 40 is set to the "fitting start position" shown in FIG.
The cam action pin 14 of the male connector housing 11 is inserted into the cam groove 45 provided in the leg portion 42 of the lever 40. Then, the lever 40 fitted as described above,
For example, a finger is put on the bridge portion 41 to rotate it from the "fitting start position" shown in FIG. 1 to the "fitting completion position" shown in FIG. Then, the cam action pin 14 is moved to the female connector housing 21 side by the cam action with the cam groove 45, whereby the male and female connectors are brought into a coupled state.

At this time, the insertion load increases as the female connector housing 21 is inserted into the male connector housing 11, and when the operating force applied to the bridge portion 41 increases against this, the bridge portion 41 of the lever 40 bends. Deformed, leg 42
A force that pushes both sides apart acts. However, since the retaining large diameter portion 29 formed at the tip of the support shaft 27 is larger than the inner diameter of the supporting shaft insertion hole 43 and the support shaft 27 is in the retaining state, even if both legs 42 are spread out. The leg portion 42 does not separate from the support shaft 27.

(Effects of Embodiment) As described above, according to this embodiment, since the large diameter portion 29 for preventing removal is formed at the tip of the support shaft 27, a large insertion is made during the fitting operation of both connectors. Even if resistance is applied, it is possible to reliably prevent the support shaft 27 from coming out of the support shaft insertion hole 43 of the lever 40. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a guide wall or to add a retaining component as in the conventional case, it contributes to downsizing of the connector, and also reduces manufacturing cost by reducing the number of components and simplifying assembly work. Can be cheap.

Moreover, particularly in this embodiment, the lever 40
The housing recess 4 for housing the retaining large diameter portion 29 of the support shaft 27.
Since the support shaft 27 is formed, the entire support shaft 27 is buried in the lever 40 and does not project from the side surface of the lever 40, and therefore the connector can be further downsized. Further, particularly in this embodiment, a tip outer diameter is provided on the tip side of the support shaft 27 so that the support shaft insertion hole 43 is formed.
Tapered slope 3 with a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of
Since 0 is formed, when inserting the support shaft 27 into the support shaft insertion hole 43, first, the tip end of the support shaft 27 is inserted into the support shaft insertion hole 4
Lightly fit at the entrance of 3 and then lever 4
It is only necessary to press the leg portion 42 of No. 0 to the connector housing 21 side.
The work of inserting into 3 becomes extremely easy.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the following modifications are possible, for example, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) In the above-mentioned embodiment, the split groove 28 of the support shaft 27 is formed in a straight line, but the present invention is not limited to this, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11, the dividing groove 71 may be formed in a cross shape. By doing so, the elastic deformability is enhanced, so that there is an advantage that the work of inserting the support shaft 27 is further simplified. (2) Although the split groove 28 is formed in a V-shaped cross section in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be U-shaped or U-shaped, or multiple split grooves may be formed. (3) The fitting assisting member is not limited to the lever-shaped member illustrated in the above embodiment, but may be, for example, a simple flat plate-shaped member having only one leg, or a disc-shaped base member and a rotary operation unit. It may have a shape in which each of the connector and the cam action portion is provided. In short, the fitting auxiliary member can be rotated through the support shaft in one connector housing to fit and disconnect both connectors. It can be applied to the connector provided in. In addition, the invention of the present application can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention before fitting both connectors.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the female connector shown with a lever removed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of both connectors before mating.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the female connector shown with the lever locked at a mating completion position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the female connector in a state where the electric wire cover is moved to a lock release position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the female connector in a state where the electric wire cover is moved further forward from the unlocked position.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a support shaft.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view showing a penetrating portion of a support shaft.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state before inserting the support shaft.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view showing a process of inserting the support shaft portion.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state after the spindle is inserted.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a spindle according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Male connector 20 ... Female connector 27 ... Spindle 28, 71 ... Split groove 29 ... Large diameter portion for preventing slippage 30 ... Guide slope portion 40 ... Lever 43 ... Spindle insertion hole 44 ... Receiving recess

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A support shaft is provided on one of the connector housings of the connectors to be fitted to each other so as to project, and a fitting auxiliary member for rotating the support shaft to engage and disengage the both connectors is rotated. Where possible, a split groove is formed at the tip of the support shaft to enable elastic diameter reduction deformation, and the split groove is formed in a portion of the support shaft that penetrates the support shaft insertion hole of the fitting assisting member. A connector having a large-diameter portion for retaining that is larger in diameter than the inner diameter of the spindle insertion hole. 2. The fitting auxiliary member is formed with a housing recess for housing a large diameter portion for preventing the shaft from coming off by enlarging the inner diameter of the shaft insertion hole into a stepped shape. The connector according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. A tapered guide bevel portion having a tip outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the support shaft insertion hole is formed on a tip end side of the retaining diameter large portion. Connector described.