CN113036530A

CN113036530A - Connector with a locking member

Info

Publication number: CN113036530A
Application number: CN202110458269.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王育风; 张振波
Original assignee: Rosenberger Asia Pacific Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Rosenberger Asia Pacific Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-04-27
Filing date: 2021-04-27
Publication date: 2021-06-25
Also published as: WO2022227279A1

Abstract

The present invention provides a connector for mating with a mating connector provided with a locking portion, comprising: a conductive terminal; the conductive terminal is accommodated in the body; the shell is arranged on the body and can rotate along the circumferential direction of the body; the unlocking mechanism comprises an elastic arm matched with the locking part and an unlocking arm matched with the elastic arm, the elastic arm is arranged on one of the body and the shell, and the unlocking arm is arranged on the other of the body and the shell; when unlocking, the unlocking arm is abutted against the elastic arm by pushing the shell to move, and the elastic arm is elastically deformed along the radial direction of the body and is further disengaged from the locking part; wherein the movement of the housing includes rotation along a circumferential direction of the body. The connector provided by the invention is unlocked by matching the unlocking mechanism formed by the shell and the components in the body, the connector can be directly pulled out after unlocking, and the shell can automatically reset after hands are released, so that the operation is simple.

Description

Connector with a locking member

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electrical connections, and more particularly to connectors.

Background

The primary locking structure of the connector with the buckle in the industry at present can be unlocked only by pressing the buckle, certain buckles are smaller and even smaller than the finger heads of people, and manual pressing for unlocking is difficult.

Secondly, the connector secondary lock structure in the trade at present has all added extra TPA plastic shrapnel and has locked, when using TPA locking, pulls out the connector and need unblock TPA earlier just can pull out the connector, and when mating the connector once more, need lock TPA once more, complex operation.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to solve the problem of complex operation in the prior art.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention specifically provides a connector for mating with a mating connector provided with a locking portion, comprising: a conductive terminal; the conductive terminal is accommodated in the body; the shell is mounted on the body and can rotate along the circumferential direction of the body; the unlocking mechanism comprises an elastic arm matched with the locking part and an unlocking arm matched with the elastic arm, the elastic arm is arranged on one of the body and the shell, and the unlocking arm is arranged on the other of the body and the shell; when the lock is unlocked, the unlocking arm is enabled to abut against the elastic arm by pushing the shell to move, and the elastic arm is enabled to elastically deform along the radial direction of the body so as to be disengaged from the locking part; wherein the movement of the housing includes a rotation along a circumferential direction of the body.

In one embodiment, the resilient arm is provided with an auxiliary projection cooperating with the unlocking arm; when the lock is unlocked, the unlocking arm abuts against the auxiliary protrusion, so that the elastic arm is elastically deformed along the radial direction of the body.

In one embodiment, when the connector is in the initial state, the auxiliary protrusion and the lock release arm are aligned in a circumferential direction of the body, so that the lock release arm can abut against the auxiliary protrusion when the housing is rotated.

In one embodiment, the movement of the housing includes a first movement that is a rotation along a circumferential direction of the body and a second movement that is a movement along an axial direction of the body; when the shell completes the first movement and the second movement, the unlocking arm abuts against the auxiliary protrusion.

In one embodiment, at least one of the auxiliary projection and the unlocking arm is provided with a guide slope to guide the auxiliary projection and the unlocking arm to be slidable relative to each other.

In one embodiment, the elastic arm is axially arranged on the body, and a first gap exists between the elastic arm and the body; the unlocking arm is arranged in the shell.

In an embodiment, when the unlocking arm abuts against the elastic arm, the unlocking arm is located on a side of the elastic arm away from the first gap, and at this time, the elastic arm elastically deforms along a side of the body, which is radially away from the unlocking arm.

In one embodiment, the unlocking arm has a second gap with the housing; when the unlocking arm abuts against the elastic arm, the unlocking arm is located in the first gap, the elastic arm is located in the second gap, and at the moment, the elastic arm elastically deforms along one side of the body, which is far away from the body, in the radial direction.

In one embodiment, the body is further provided with a limiting portion to limit a rotation angle of the housing in a circumferential direction in cooperation with a counterpart limiting portion provided in the housing.

In one embodiment, the connector is further provided with a first resilient element cooperating with the housing; when the shell is rotated along the circumferential direction of the body, the shell abuts against the first elastic element, so that the first elastic element is elastically deformed.

In one embodiment, the connector is further provided with a second elastic element cooperating with the housing; after the shell completes the second movement, the shell abuts against the second elastic element, so that the second elastic element is elastically deformed in the axial direction of the body.

In one embodiment, the connector is further provided with a first fool-proof structure to mate with a second fool-proof structure provided in the docking connector.

According to the invention, the unlocking mechanism formed by the shell and the parts in the body is matched to unlock the connector, the connector can be directly pulled out after unlocking, and the shell can automatically reset after hands are released, so that the operation is simple.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a connector assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 2 with the wire removed and cut along the direction A-A; and

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 2 with the housing removed;

FIG. 4b is a perspective view of FIG. 4a from another angle;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 4a taken along the direction B-B with the housing removed;

FIG. 6 is an exploded schematic view of the connector of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the housing of the connector of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the housing of the connector of FIG. 6 from another angle;

FIG. 9 is a top view of a connector according to another embodiment of the present invention with the head gasket, housing, washer, tail nut and wires removed; and

fig. 10 is a left side view of a housing for the connector of fig. 9.

Detailed Description

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. The exemplary embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive of all embodiments according to the invention. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar components. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the terms "include," "include," and similar terms are to be construed as open-ended terms, i.e., "including/including but not limited to," meaning that additional content can be included as well. The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment," and the like.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Front, rear, left, right, up, down, front, rear, left, right, upper, lower, left, right, longitudinal, lateral, etc. in the present invention are relative concepts used with reference to fig. 1 and 2.

The invention provides a connector, which is matched with an unlocking mechanism formed by a shell and parts in a body, realizes an unlocking process by pushing the shell to move, and can realize automatic reset, so that the connector is simple and convenient to operate.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1-8, the connector assembly 100 includes a connector 200 and a mating connector 300 (e.g., illustrated as a receptacle in fig. 1), the connector 200 being for mating with the mating connector 300, the mating connector 300 being provided with locking portions 310 (e.g., the locking portions 310 are illustrated as including recesses or

open slots

310a, 310b on either side of the receptacle 300 in fig. 1).

As shown in fig. 1-4b and 6, the connector 200 includes four conductive terminals (not shown, the number of the conductive terminals can be adjusted as required), a body 210, a housing 220, and an insulator 230, the insulator 230 has four

receiving cavities

2300, 2302, 2304, 2306 (shown in fig. 2, 4a and 4 b) extending axially therethrough, the four conductive terminals are disposed in the four

receiving cavities

2300, 2302, 2304, 2306 and received in the body 210 together with the insulator 230 for electrically connecting four

corresponding mating terminals

320a, 320b, 320c, 320d (shown in fig. 1) disposed in the mating connector 300 with the wires 400, the housing 220 is mounted on the body 210 and can rotate along the circumference of the body 210, the housing 220 includes unlocking

arms

220a, 220b (illustrated as a pair of protruding ribs in fig. 7 and 8) disposed therein, the unlocking

arms

220a, 220b respectively have guiding

slopes

2200, 2202, the body 210 is provided with a pair of

elastic arms

240, 250 symmetrically distributed on both sides in the axial direction of the body, the elastic arms 240 comprise a buckle 240a and an auxiliary projection 240b with a guiding slope 2400, the elastic arms 250 comprise a buckle 250a and an auxiliary projection 250b with a guiding slope 2500 (as shown in fig. 3, 4a, 4b and 5), and the unlocking

arms

220a, 220b and the

elastic arms

240, 250 cooperate to form an unlocking mechanism.

When the connector 200 is inserted into the mating connector 300, the

snaps

240a and 250a of the

elastic arms

240 and 250 respectively abut against the inner wall of the mating connector 300, so that the

elastic arms

240 and 250 are elastically deformed inward along the radial direction of the connector 200; when the

snaps

240a, 250a slide along the inner walls to the

open slots

310a, 310b, respectively, the

snaps

240a, 250a enter the

open slots

310a, 310b, respectively, such that the connector 200 is locked to the mating connector 300 by the mating of the

snaps

240a, 250a with the

open slots

310a, 310 b. When unlocking, the unlocking

arms

220a and 220b respectively abut against the

auxiliary protrusions

240b and 250b of the

elastic arms

240 and 250, so that the

elastic arms

240 and 250 are elastically deformed inwards along the radial direction of the body 210, and the

buckles

240a and 250a are disengaged from the

open grooves

310a and 310 b.

Specifically, in the embodiment shown in fig. 1 to 8, during unlocking, first, the housing 220 is rotated (i.e., a first movement is performed) so that the center lines of the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b in the axial direction are aligned with the center lines of the

elastic arms

240 and 250 in the axial direction, and then, the housing 220 is pulled backward (i.e., a second movement is performed) so that the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b abut against the guide slopes 2400 of the auxiliary protrusion 240b and the guide slopes 2500 of the auxiliary protrusion 250b, respectively, and the unlocking

arms

220a and 220b can slide relative to the

guide slopes

2400 and 2500, respectively, so that the

elastic arms

240 and 250 are elastically deformed inward in the radial direction of the body 210, and the

buckles

240a and 250b are disengaged from the

open grooves

310a and 310 b.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 to 8, during unlocking, the housing 220 may be pulled back to align the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b with the

auxiliary protrusions

240b and 250b in the circumferential direction, and then the housing 220 is rotated to make the guiding

inclined surfaces

2200 and 2202 of the unlocking

arms

220a and 220b respectively abut against the

auxiliary protrusions

240b and 250b, and during the rotation, the

auxiliary protrusions

240b and 250b slide relative to the guiding

inclined surfaces

2200 and 2202, so that the

elastic arms

240 and 250 are elastically deformed inward along the radial direction of the body 210, and the

buckles

240a and 250a are disengaged from the

opening grooves

310a and 310 b.

Although in the embodiment shown in fig. 1-8 both the unlocking arm and the auxiliary projection have guiding slopes, in another embodiment both the

auxiliary projections

240b, 250b do not have guiding slopes and only the

unlocking arms

220a, 220b have guiding

slopes

2200, 2202 as shown in fig. 7 and 8, in which case, when unlocking, the disengagement of the

catches

240a, 250a from the

opening grooves

310a, 310b can only be achieved by pulling the housing 220 backwards and then rotating the housing 220 as described above; in another embodiment, the

auxiliary protrusions

240b, 250b each have a guiding

bevel

2400, 2500 as shown in fig. 3-5, and the unlocking

arms

220a, 220b do not have a guiding bevel, in which case, when unlocking, the disengagement of the

fasteners

240a, 250b from the

opening grooves

310a, 310b can only be achieved by rotating the housing 220 and then pulling the housing 220 as described above.

It should be appreciated that although the embodiment shown in fig. 1-8 has the resilient arm disposed on the body and the unlocking arm disposed within the housing, in another embodiment, the resilient arm may be disposed within the housing and the unlocking arm may be disposed on the body, and the unlocking function is still accomplished by the unlocking arm and the resilient arm forming an unlocking mechanism.

It should also be understood that in another embodiment, the resilient arm may not include an auxiliary protrusion, in which case the gap between the unlocking arm and the body is less than the gap between the resilient arm and the body.

In another embodiment, the structure of the connector is the same as the structure of the connector in the embodiment shown in fig. 1-8, except that, the mounting position of the housing 220, in this embodiment, in an initial state, the housing 220 is mounted on the body 210 at an initial position, such that the

complementary protrusions

240b, 250b, and the

unlocking arms

220a, 220b are circumferentially aligned, the housing can only be rotated about the body 210 without further movement, and when unlocked, by directly rotating the housing 220, the

unlocking arms

220a, 220b respectively abut against the

auxiliary protrusions

240b, 250b, thereby elastically deforming the

elastic arms

240 and 250 inward in the radial direction of the body 210, thereby disengaging the

catches

240a, 250a from the

open grooves

310a, 310b, respectively, and thus, in this embodiment, the unlocking does not require the action of pulling the housing 220 backward (i.e., does not require the second movement).

As shown in fig. 3, the same first gap G1 and second gap G2 exist between the

elastic arms

240 and 250 and the body 210, G1 and G2 are the same, the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b are disposed inside the housing 220 (as shown in fig. 6 to 8), when the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b abut against the

elastic arms

240 and 250, the

unlocking arms

220a and 220b are respectively located on the side of the elastic arm 240 away from the first gap G1 and the side of the elastic arm 250 away from the second gap G2, and at this time, the

elastic arms

240 and 250 are respectively elastically deformed along the radial direction of the body 210 to the side away from the unlocking

arms

220a and 220 b.

As shown in fig. 1 to 8, the body 210 further includes a pair of limiting portions (illustrated as protrusions in fig. 4a and 4 b) 210a and 210b, the housing 220 further includes a pair of limiting portions (illustrated as pair protrusions in fig. 7 and 8) 220c and 220d and a pair of limiting

portions

220e and 220f, and the limiting

portions

210a and 210b may be respectively engaged with the pair of limiting

portions

220c and 220d or engaged with the pair of limiting

portions

220e and 220f to limit the rotation angle of the housing 220 in the circumferential direction. It should be understood that although the illustrated embodiment has two limiting portions, in another embodiment, the number of limiting portions may be one or any number of limiting portions, while the number of counterpart limiting portions is a corresponding one or any number of limiting portions.

As shown in fig. 6, the connector 200 further includes a first resilient element 260 (illustrated in fig. 6 as a twist ring), a gasket 270, a gasket 280, a second resilient element 282 (illustrated in fig. 6 as a corrugated ring), a sealing ring 290, a tail nut 292, and an annular sealing ring 294, the annular sealing ring 294 being fitted over the front end of the body 210 (as shown in fig. 1-2, 4a, and 4 b) for forming a seal between the connector 200 and the counterpart connector 300 when mounted, the first resilient element 260, the gasket 280, and the second resilient element 282 being mounted on the body 210 and received in the housing 220, the gasket 270 and the sealing ring 290 being mounted inside the body 210 for forming a seal between the wires 400 partially received in the body 210 and the tail nut 292 mounted on the body 210; the first elastic element 260 is matched with the housing 220, when the housing 220 is rotated along the circumferential direction of the body 210 (i.e. after the first movement is completed), the housing 220 abuts against the first elastic element 260, so that the first elastic element 260 is elastically deformed, and when the unlocking is completed and the external force pushing the housing 220 is removed, the first elastic element 260 automatically restores the deformation to reset the housing 220 in the circumferential direction; the second elastic element 282 is engaged with the housing 220, when the housing 220 completes the second movement, the housing 220 abuts against the second elastic element 282, so that the second elastic element 282 is elastically deformed in the axial direction of the body 210, and when the unlocking is completed and the external force pushing the housing 220 is removed, the second elastic element 282 automatically restores the deformation to reset the housing 220 in the axial direction.

As shown in fig. 1-8, the connector 200 is also provided with a first fool-proofing structure (illustrated in fig. 2, 4a, 4b and 5 as key slots 230a) to mate with a second fool-proofing structure (illustrated in fig. 1 as male keys 320d) provided in the docking connector 300, it being understood that in another embodiment, key slots may also be provided on the connector 200 and male keys provided on the docking connector 300 to form a fool-proofing fit.

It should be understood that although the number of resilient arms is a pair in the embodiment shown in fig. 1-8, in another embodiment, the number of resilient arms may be only one, and the number of unlocking arms in the housing is also one, and the number of auxiliary protrusions is also 1, and in another embodiment, the number of resilient arms may be any number, and the number of unlocking arms in the housing is any number corresponding to the number of resilient arms, and the number of auxiliary protrusions is also any number corresponding to the number of auxiliary protrusions.

In another embodiment shown in fig. 9, the structure of the connector 900 is substantially the same as the connector 200 shown in fig. 1-8, except that the catches 240a, 250a of the resilient arms 240, 250 are bent outwardly away from the body 210, and the catches 940a, 950a of the resilient arms 940, 950 are bent inwardly toward the body 910, the auxiliary projections 240b, 250b of the resilient arms 240, 250 are projected away from the body 210 from the outer sides of the resilient arms 240, 250, and the auxiliary projections 940b, 950b of the resilient arms 940, 950 are projected toward the body 910 from the inner sides of the resilient arms 940, 950, while, in the housing 1010 mated with the body 910 shown in fig. 10, the mating stops 1010c, 1010d, 1010e, 1010f in the housing 1010 are structurally the same as the mating stops 220c, 220d, 220e, 220f, and the unlocking arms 1010a, 1010b are a pair of cantilevered arms disposed in the housing 1010 extending inwardly of the inner walls thereof into the housing 1010, and the elastic arms 940 and 950 respectively have a third gap and a fourth gap with the body 910, the cantilevers 1010a and 1010b respectively have a fifth gap and a sixth gap with the body 910, the third gap and the fourth gap have the same size, the fifth gap and the sixth gap have the same size, the third gap is larger than the fifth gap, when the connector 900 is inserted into the mating connector 300, the latches 940a and 950a respectively latch into the open slots 310a and 310b from both sides of the mating connector 300, when the connector is unlocked, the housing 1010 is first rotated to make the cantilever 1010a located in the third gap between the elastic arm 940 and the body 910, and the cantilever 1010b located in the fourth gap between the elastic arm 950 and the body 910, so that the center lines of the cantilevers 1010a and 1010b in the axial direction are aligned with the center line of the elastic arm in the axial direction, and then, the housing 1010 is pulled backwards, so that the cantilevers 1010a and 1010b respectively abut against the auxiliary protrusions 940b and 950b of the elastic arms 940 and 950, and during the pulling process, the cantilevers 1010a and 1010b can slide relative to the guiding slopes 9400 and 9500, so that the elastic arms 940 and 950 are respectively deformed along one side radially away from the body 910, and the buckles 940a and 950a are disengaged from the open slots 310a and 310 b.

The connector provided by the invention is convenient to unlock and reset and is simple to operate. In addition, the connector 200/900 needs to rotate in the circumferential direction to unlock, so that the defect that the connector and the butting connector are often mistakenly unlocked due to the fact that the existing unlocking mechanism can unlock only by pulling in the axial direction is overcome, and the use safety performance is improved.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only specific examples of the present invention, and obviously, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and many similar variations exist. All modifications which would occur to one skilled in the art and which are, therefore, directly derived or suggested from the disclosure herein are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A connector for mating with a mating connector provided with a locking portion, comprising:

a conductive terminal;

the conductive terminal is accommodated in the body;

the shell is mounted on the body and can rotate along the circumferential direction of the body; and

the unlocking mechanism comprises an elastic arm matched with the locking part and an unlocking arm matched with the elastic arm, the elastic arm is arranged on one of the body and the shell, and the unlocking arm is arranged on the other of the body and the shell;

when the lock is unlocked, the unlocking arm is enabled to abut against the elastic arm by pushing the shell to move, and the elastic arm is enabled to elastically deform along the radial direction of the body so as to be disengaged from the locking part; wherein the movement of the housing includes a rotation along a circumferential direction of the body.

2. The connector of claim 1, wherein: the elastic arm is provided with an auxiliary protrusion matched with the unlocking arm; when the lock is unlocked, the unlocking arm abuts against the auxiliary protrusion, so that the elastic arm is elastically deformed along the radial direction of the body.

3. The connector of claim 2, wherein: when the connector is in an initial state, the auxiliary protrusion and the unlocking arm are aligned in the circumferential direction of the body, so that when the shell is rotated, the unlocking arm can abut against the auxiliary protrusion.

4. The connector of claim 2, wherein: the movement of the housing comprises a first movement and a second movement, the first movement is rotation along the circumferential direction of the body, and the second movement is movement along the axial direction of the body; when the shell completes the first movement and the second movement, the unlocking arm abuts against the auxiliary protrusion.

5. The connector according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: at least one of the auxiliary protrusion and the lock release arm is provided with a guide slope to guide the auxiliary protrusion and the lock release arm to be slidable relative to each other.

6. The connector of claim 1, wherein: the elastic arm is arranged on the body along the axial direction, and a first gap is formed between the elastic arm and the body; the unlocking arm is arranged in the shell.

7. The connector of claim 6, wherein: when the unlocking arm abuts against the elastic arm, the unlocking arm is positioned on one side of the elastic arm far away from the first gap, and at the moment, the elastic arm elastically deforms along one side of the body, which is far away from the unlocking arm, in the radial direction.

8. The connector of claim 6, wherein: a second gap is formed between the unlocking arm and the shell; when the unlocking arm abuts against the elastic arm, the unlocking arm is located in the first gap, the elastic arm is located in the second gap, and at the moment, the elastic arm elastically deforms along one side of the body, which is far away from the body, in the radial direction.

9. The connector of claim 1, wherein: the body is further provided with a limiting part so as to be matched with the matched limiting part arranged in the shell to limit the rotation angle of the shell in the circumferential direction.

10. The connector of claim 1, wherein: the connector is also provided with a first elastic element matched with the shell; when the shell is rotated along the circumferential direction of the body, the shell abuts against the first elastic element, so that the first elastic element is elastically deformed.

11. The connector of claim 4, wherein: the connector is also provided with a second elastic element matched with the shell; after the shell completes the second movement, the shell abuts against the second elastic element, so that the second elastic element is elastically deformed in the axial direction of the body.

12. The connector of claim 1, wherein: the connector is also provided with a first fool-proof structure to cooperate with a second fool-proof structure provided in the docking connector.