EP2889966A1

EP2889966A1 - Lever-actuated electrical connector

Info

Publication number: EP2889966A1
Application number: EP14199980.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yoshiaki Tsukamoto
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Japan GK
Current assignee: Tyco Electronics Japan GK
Priority date: 2013-12-24
Filing date: 2014-12-23
Publication date: 2015-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 2034-12-23
Also published as: JP6381904B2; CN104733908A; EP2889966B1; JP2015122182A; CN104733908B

Abstract

A lever-actuated connector (10) has a wire cover (40) to which a lever (70) is attached so as to be rotatable between an initial mating position and a final mating position, and a housing (20) to which the wire cover (40) is mounted. An interference structure (76, 27) is provided between the lever (70) and the housing (20), the interference structure (76, 27) arranged to prevent the wire cover (40), having the lever (70) placed in a position for mounting the wire cover (40) to the housing (20), from being mounted to the housing (20) with an improper orientation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lever-actuated electrical connector capable of preventing improper mounting of a wire cover on a housing.

Description of the Related Art

A multi-positioning electrical connector (that may be simply referred to as connector below) requires large force when the connectors are mated and when the mating is released. Therefore, a lever-actuated connector that uses a boosting effect of a lever for mating with a mating connector and releasing the mating is used. As for the lever-actuated connector, a lever is supported on a housing of one of a pair of connectors mated with each other such that the lever can be rotated back and forth. A typical lever is a U-shaped member having a pair of arms and a joining beam joining the arms together, and fulcrum shafts provided on the housing are inserted into fulcrum holes provided in both the arms so that the lever is supported so as to be capable of a forward rotation and a backward rotation. A lever-actuated connector is generally provided with a connector housing, a lever, and a wire cover, and the wire cover is mounted on the connector housing with a proper orientation. Next, the connector is placed against the mating connector with the lever in an initial mating position, and then the lever is rotated to a final mating position, so that the mating operation is completed.
In a lever-actuated connector, since the wire cover looks to be capable of being mounted on the housing with an orientation reversed to a proper orientation, the wire cover may be improperly mated so as to be attached in an improper orientation. Regardless of the fact that the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out is rightward, the wire cover may, for example, be mounted by mistake so that the electrical wire is led out leftward. JP 2012-28029 A therefore suggests providing an improper-mounting preventing projection, which abuts against the lever, thereby preventing improper mounting of the wire cover, so as to project from the wire cover. This improper-mounting preventing projection projects outward beyond the outer surfaces of the connector housing and the lever, and therefore doubles as a buffering member for the connector housing that absorbs external impact.
The lever-actuated connector suggested by JP 2012-28029 A can prevent improper mounting of the wire cover, but restricts the direction in which the electrical wire is led out to one direction. Thus, when, for example, the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out is rightward, JP 2012-28029 A can prevent improper mounting that causes leftward leading-out of the electrical wire but cannot change the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out to a leftward direction. The restriction of the direction in which the electrical wire is led out is due to the fact that the structure to prevent improper mounting is provided between the lever and the wire cover, the details of which will be explained later. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a lever-actuated connector capable of preventing improper mounting of the wire cover without a restriction on the direction in which the electrical wire is led out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For such a purpose, a lever-actuated connector according to one aspect of the present invention is a lever-actuated connector where a wire cover to which a lever is attached so as to be rotatable between an initial mating position and a final mating position is mounted to a housing, wherein an interference structure preventing the wire cover having the lever placed in a position for mounting the wire cover to the housing from being mounted to the housing with an improper orientation is provided between the lever and the housing. In the lever-actuated connector according to one aspect of the present invention, the interference structure is provided between the lever and the housing. Therefore, even if the wire cover is mounted to the housing with a reversed orientation, the rotating operation for mating can be performed, without being blocked by the interference structure, with the relative initial mating position of the lever to the housing unchanged from before the reversion. Hence, the lever-actuated connector according to the present invention can prevent improper mounting of the wire cover without a restriction on the direction in which an electrical wire is led out.
In the lever-actuated connector according to the present invention, it is preferred that the interference structure provided between the lever and the housing comprise a lever-side structure where a radius about a rotation shaft of the lever is selectively increased, and a housing-side structure provided at a site on the housing corresponding to the lever-side structure and projecting beyond surroundings.
In the lever-actuated connector according to the present invention, it is preferred that the wire cover have a specified direction in which an electrical wire is led out, and be capable of being mounted on the housing with the direction in which an electrical wire is led out reversed, and that the lever be attached to the wire cover with an orientation corresponding to the direction in which an electrical wire is led out.
According to the lever-actuated connector of the present invention, even if the wire cover is being mounted with an improper orientation, the lever and the housing interfere with each other, thereby preventing improper mounting of the wire cover. In addition, according to the lever-actuated connector of the present invention, since the interference structure preventing the improper mounting is provided between the lever and the housing, the wire cover can be mounted on the housing with a reverse orientation, so that the improper mounting of the wire cover can be prevent without a restriction on the direction in which an electrical wire is led out.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a lever-actuated connector where a wire cover to which a lever is attached so as to be rotatable between an initial mating position and a final mating position is mounted to a housing, a lever-side interference structure is provided to the lever, and a housing-side interference structure is provided to the housing. An interference structure preventing the wire cover with the lever placed in the initial mating position from being mounted to the housing with an improper orientation is composed of the lever-side interference structure and the housing-side interference structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a lever-actuated connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the lever-actuated connector has been separated from a mating connector;
Fig. 2 shows the lever-actuated connector of Fig. 1 mounted on the mating connector and put into an initial mating state;
Fig. 3 shows the lever-actuated connector of Fig. 1 put into a final mating state;
Figs. 4(a) to 4(c) are front views of the lever-actuated connector of Fig. 1, showing the process of mating with the mating connector;
Figs. 5(a) and 5(b) show the lever-actuated connector of Fig. 1 with a wire cover mounted improperly;
Figs. 6(a) to 6(c) are perspective views showing the lever-actuated connector according to the embodiment with the wire cover attached reversely to Figs. 1 to Fig. 5(b), Fig. 6(a) showing an initial mating state, Fig. 6(b) showing a final mating state, Fig. 6(c) showing improper mounting of the wire cover; and
Figs. 7(a) and 7(b) are views showing the process of mounting of the wire cover of the lever-actuated connector of Fig. 1 to a housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be fully described below on the basis of an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. The embodiment is such that a connector 10 and a mating connector 90 are mated via a slider 50 with which the connector 10 is provided. Incidentally, only a portion of the mating connector 90, which is involved in mating, is selectively depicted.
The connector 10 is provided with a housing 20, a pair of sliders 50, a wire cover 40, and a lever 70. These members are all produced by injection molding resin.
It should be noted that in the connector 10, a side on which the slider 50 is inserted into the housing 20 (a side on which the slider 50 is depicted in Fig. 1) is defined as front.

The housing 20, as shown in Fig. 1, is provided with a substantially-rectangular mating portion 21. In the mating portion 21, terminals (not shown) are retained and a cavity that is a space for receiving the mating connector 90 is provided. This cavity in Fig. 1 is opened in a lower face side of the mating portion 21. In both widthwise sides of the mating portion 21, a pair of slider receiving grooves 25 for receiving the sliders 50 are formed so as to penetrate in a front-to-back direction. The sliders 50 slide frontward and backward inside the slider receiving grooves 25 according to the operation of the lever 70. In the mating portion 21, a meshing chamber 26 accommodating a portion of a supporting disk 72 of the lever 70 and communicating internally with the slider receiving groove 25 is provided for each slider receiving groove 25. A rack (not shown) formed on the slider 50 meshes with a gear 75 of the lever 70 inside the meshing chamber 26. The mating portion 21 is provided with a housing-side interference structure 27 (simply referred to as interference structure 27 below) adjacent to the meshing chamber 26. The interference structure 27 is composed of a projection projecting from an upper edge of the mating portion 21 of the housing 20. When the wire cover 40 with the lever 70 attached is being mounted on the housing 20 with an improper orientation, the interference structure 27 interferes with a lever-side interference structure 76 (simply referred to as interference structure 76 below) of the lever 70, thereby preventing the wire cover 40 from being improperly mounted on the housing 20.

As shown in Fig. 1, the wire cover 40 is mounted on the upside of the housing 20. The wire cover 40 is detachably fixed to the housing 20. An electrical wire (not shown) connected to each terminal (not shown) is led outside from the side of a wire guard 40a provided integrally to the wire cover 40. In Fig. 1, on both side faces of the wire cover 40, supporting shafts 41 for pivotally supporting the lever 70 are provided. Further, on both the side faces of the wire cover 40, rotation restricting projections 42a, 42b are provided for engaging with the lever 70 to prevent the lever 70 from rotating too far. On both the side faces of the wire cover 40, projections 44a, 44b are provided for pre-latching the lever 70 in an initial mating position. When the lever 70 placed in the initial mating position is pushed toward a final mating position, the lever 70 rides over the projections 44a, 44b and is then rotated toward the final mating position. Further, on an upper face of the wire cover 40, locks 43a, 43b are provided for locking the lever 70 in the final mating position. The wire cover 40 is manufactured so as to be not only capable of being mounted on the housing 20 with a rightward orientation shown in Fig. 1 but also capable of being mounted on the housing 20 with a reversed orientation opposite to the orientation in Fig. 1, as shown in Fig. 6. When the wire cover 40 is attached with the orientation in Fig. 1, the lever 70 is pre-latched in the initial mating position by the projection 44a hidden behind the lever 70, and when the lever 70 is pushed counterclockwise, the lever 70 rides over the projection 44a and rotates to the final mating position, where the lever 70 is locked by the lock 43b. When the wire cover 40 is attached with the orientation in Fig. 6, the lever 70 is pre-latched in the initial mating position by the projection 44b hidden behind the lever 70, and when the lever 70 is pushed counterclockwise, the lever 70 rides over the projection 44b and rotates to the final mating position, where the lever 70 is locked by the lock 43a.

The pair of sliders 50 are inserted from the front of the housing 20 into the pair of slider receiving grooves 25 provided in both the side faces of the mating portion 21, and provided to the housing 20 so as to be capable of reciprocating linearly in relation to the housing 20 between the initial mating position shown in Fig. 1 and the final mating position shown in Fig. 3. The slider 50 has a substantially-rectangular shape so as to be capable of being received in each slider receiving groove 25 of the housing 20. The rack (not shown) is formed on an upper end face of the slider 50. This rack meshes with the gear 75 of the lever 70 when each slider 50 moves in each slider receiving groove 25 of the housing 20 in relation to the housing 20 between the initial mating position and the final mating position.
Further, the slider 50 is provided with a cam groove 51 into which a boss 93 provided on the mating connector 90 is inserted so as to engage with the mating connector 90, and mating is performed in such a manner that, when the slider 50 moves from the initial mating position to the final mating position, the boss 93 provided on the mating connector 90 moves inside the cam groove 51, and accordingly the mating connector 90 is pulled into the housing 20. Incidentally, three individual cam grooves 51 are formed so as to correspond to the bosses 93.

The lever 70 is a U-shaped member provided with a pair of arms 71, the supporting disk 72 provided at one end of each arm 71, and a joining beam 73 joining the other ends of the pair of arms 71. At the center of the supporting disk 72, a supporting hole is provided into which the supporting shaft 41 of the wire cover 40 is inserted. While the lever 70 is being supported by the wire cover 40 with the supporting shafts 41 fitted in the supporting holes, the lever 70 can be reciprocated in a rotating manner in relation to the wire cover 40 on the supporting shaft 41 functioning as a rotation shaft. The gear 75 for meshing with the rack of the slider 50 received in the mating portion 21 is provided in the outer periphery of the supporting disk 72. When the lever 70 is rotated from the initial mating position to the final mating position, the gear 75 cooperates with the rack (not shown) to cause the slider 50 to move from the initial mating position to the final mating position (mating position).
On the lever 70, the interference structure 76, which is a portion of the supporting disk 72 selectively made larger in radius than the remaining part thereof, is provided so as to be adjacent to one end of the gear 75. When the wire cover 40 with the lever 70 attached is being mounted on the housing 20 with an improper orientation, the interference structure 76 interferes with the interference structure 27 of the housing 20, thereby preventing the wire cover 40 from being mounted improperly to the housing 20.

The mating connector 90, though illustrated in a simplified manner, is provided with a housing 91 having a mating portion 92 on an upside thereof. The mating portion 92 is formed in a substantially-rectangular shape, and the cylindrical bosses 93 functioning as cam followers are provided on both side faces of the mating portion 92. Three bosses 93 are provided on each of the side faces so as to correspond to the cam grooves 51 of the sliders 50. In a cavity 94 of the mating portion 92, a plurality of terminals (not shown) are accommodated and retained. These terminals are connected to the terminals retained in the connector 10 when the connector 10 and the mating connector 90 are mated.

The procedure for mating the connector 10 and the mating connector 90 will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, and Fig. 7. It should be noted that, in the following description, the wire cover 40 is mounted on the housing 20 with a proper orientation which causes the electrical wire to be led out rightward. First, the lever 70 is placed in the final mating position or a first position and locked by the lock 43b until the wire cover 40 is mounted on the housing 20, as shown in Figs. 7(a) and 7(b). This final mating position corresponds to a "position in which the wire cover is mounted on the housing" or "position for mounting the wire cover to the housing" in the present invention. Until then, the slider 50 is withdrawn inside the slider receiving groove 25. The wire cover 40 is mounted on the housing 20 as shown in Fig. 7(b), and then the lever 70 is pushed clockwise in Fig. 7(b) and rotated to the initial mating position shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 4(a).
Next, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 4(a), the connector 10 with the wire cover 40 already mounted on the housing 20 is aligned with the mating connector 90 so as to face each other. At this time, the lever 70 placed in the initial mating position or second position is prevented from rotating beyond the initial mating position by the arm 71 abutting against the rotation restricting projection 42a, and also prevented from rotating toward the final mating position by the arm 71 pre-latched by the projection 44a of the wire cover 40. In addition, when the wire cover 40 is mounted on the housing 20 with a proper orientation, no portion of the lever 70 interferes with the interference structure 27 of the housing 20.
Next, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4(b), the mating portion 92 of the mating connector 90 is inserted into the mating portion 21 of the connector 10 (housing 20). Once the mating portion 92 is inserted deep into the mating portion 21, the bosses 93 of the mating portion 92 are inserted into the cam grooves 51 of the slider 50, and the gears 75 of the lever 70 mesh with the racks (not shown) of the sliders 50, and thus the connectors become ready for the mating action.
Next, the pre-latch with the projection 44a is released by operating the joining beam 73, and then the joining beam 73 is pushed toward the final mating position so that the lever 70 is rotated counterclockwise in Fig. 4(b) up to the final mating position or third position. In the course of this operation, the gears 75 mesh with the racks one after another, thereby moving the sliders 50 rightward in Fig. 4(b). According to this action, the mating portion 92 of the mating connector 90 is pulled deep into the mating portion 21 by the bosses 93 moving deep into the cam grooves 51 of the sliders 50, and, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4(c), the mating is thus completed. The lever 70 is moved up to the final mating position, and the joining beam 73 is locked by the lock 43b so that the lever 70 is prevented from rotating toward the initial mating position.
In the course of rotation of the lever 70 from the initial mating position to the final mating position or third position, the rotation of the lever 70 is not restrained since there is no region interfering with the interference structure 76 in a range of a locus of movement of the interference structure 76.
To separate the connector 10 and the mating connector 90 mated with each other from each other for maintenance and inspection, engagement between the lock 43b and the joining beam 73 of the lever 70 is released, and then the lever 70 can be rotated clockwise to the initial mating position.
A case is considered below where the wire cover 40 is being mounted on the housing 20 with the opposite orientation to the proper orientation so that the electrical wire is led out leftward. Here, the lever 70 is assumed to be attached to the wire cover 40 and placed in the final mating position. Then, as shown in Fig. 5, the interference structure 76 abuts against the interference structure 27, so that the wire cover 40 stops in an inclined state, and cannot be pushed into the housing 20 to a proper position. Therefore, an operator can detect at this moment that the wire cover 40 is being mounted improperly on the housing 20.
In the above description, the rightward direction is defined as the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out while the leftward direction is defined as the improper direction, but, on the other hand, the connector 10 of this embodiment also can set the leftward direction as the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out while setting the rightward direction as the improper direction. That is, the connector 10 enables the electrical wire to be led out in both the directions. However, in this case, as shown in Figs. 6(a), 6(b), the orientation of the lever 70 attached to the wire cover 40 must be reversed.
As shown in Fig. 6(a), even when the electrical wire is led out leftward, the initial mating position of the lever 70 is the same as in the case of leading out the electrical wire rightward. Accordingly, even when the wire cover 40 is mounted in a reversed state, the slider 50 is pulled into the housing 20 by rotating the lever 70 counterclockwise, so that the connector 10 can be mated with the mating connector 90, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
Even if the wire cover 40 is being improperly mounted on the housing 20 such that the electrical wire is erroneously led out rightward regardless of the fact that the proper direction in which the electrical wire should be led out is leftward, as shown in Fig. 6(c), the interference structure 76 abuts against the interference structure 27, so that the wire cover 40 is stopped in an inclined state, and cannot be pushed into the housing 20 to the proper position. Therefore, the operator can detect at this moment that the wire cover 40 is being mounted improperly on the housing 20.
The advantageous effects of the connector 10 of this embodiment will be described below. First, even if the wire cover 40 with the lever 70 attached in the initial mating position or first position is being mounted on the housing 20 in an improper manner, the interference structure 76 and the interference structure 27 interfere with each other so that the wire cover 40 remains in an inclined state and the connector 10 cannot be pushed any further. Therefore, the operator can easily detect the improper mounting.
Next, the electrical wire can be led out in both the directions from the connector 10 by reversing the orientation of the wire cover 40 to be mounted on the housing 20. In addition, regardless of whether the electrical wire is led out rightward or the electrical wire is led out leftward, the operator can detect that the wire cover 40 is being mounted improperly on the housing 20. In the lever-actuated connector 10 of this embodiment, the interference structure composed of the interference structure 76 and the interference structure 27 is provided between the lever 70 and the housing 20. Therefore, as can be seen from comparison between Figs. 4(a), 4(b) and Fig. 6(a), even when the wire cover 40 is mounted to the housing 20 with the reversed orientation, the rotating operation for mating can be performed, without being blocked by the interference structures, with the relative initial mating position of the lever 70 to the housing 20 unchanged from before the reversion. Therefore, the connector 10 can prevent improper mounting of the wire cover without a restriction on the direction in which the electrical wire is led out. If an interference structure is provided between the lever 70 and the wire cover 40, when the wire cover 40 is reversed and mounted on the housing 20, the interference structure blocks the rotating operation of the lever 70 for mating.
The connector 10 of this embodiment is valuable in that the above advantageous effects are achieved using the housing 20, the wire cover 40, and the lever 70, which have the same designs. That is, since it is unnecessary to manufacture the wire cover or the lever 70 having a design corresponding to a direction in which the electrical wire is led out, the connector 10 of this embodiment can adapt to the two-way leading out of the electrical wire, so that a connector that can detect improper mounting of the wire cover can be provided at a low cost.
The present invention has been described above on the basis of a preferred embodiment, but the components listed in the above embodiment can be selectively removed or, if necessary, replaced with another component, without departing from the gist of the present invention. The connector 10 realizing mating with the mating connector 90 by using the slider 50 has been described, but the above embodiment is also applicable to a lever-actuated connector that is mated with a mating connector by causing a lever to have a cam function. Further, the interference structure between the housing 20 and the lever 70 is composed of the housing-side interference structure 27 projecting upward from the upper edge of the mating portion 21 and the lever-side interference structure which is obtained by selectively enlarging a radius of a part of the supporting disk 72 of the lever 70. However, the interference structure provided between the housing 20 and the lever 70 is not limited to the above interference structure. For example, a projection projecting in an axial direction (a widthwise direction) from the surface of the supporting disk 72 can be provided while a projection interfering with the projection of the supporting disk 72 is provided on the mating portion 21, so that the interference structure can have any shape and can be provided at any position, as long as the purpose of the interference structure can be accomplished. However, the interference structure of the above embodiment is beneficial to the connector 10 required to be reduced in size since the interference structure of the above embodiment falls within a widthwise range of the connector 10.

Reference Signs List

10: lever-type connector
20: housing
21: mating portion
25: slider receiving groove
26: meshing chamber
27: housing-side interference structure
40: wire cover
40a: wire guard
41: supporting shaft
42a, 42b: rotation restricting projection
43a, 43b: lock
44a, 44b: projection
50: slider
51: cam groove
70: lever
71: arm
72: supporting disk
73: joining beam
75: gear
76: lever-side interference structure
90: mating connector
91: housing
92: mating portion
93: boss
94: cavity

Claims

A lever-actuated connector (10) comprising:
a wire cover (40) to which a lever (70) is attached so as to be rotatable between an initial mating position and a final mating position;

a housing (20) to which the wire cover (40) is mounted; and

an interference structure (76, 27) provided between the lever (70) and the housing (20), the interference structure (76, 27) arranged to prevent the wire cover (40), having the lever (70) placed in a position for mounting the wire cover (40) to the housing (20), from being mounted to the housing (20) with an improper orientation.
The lever-actuated connector according to claim 1, wherein the interference structure provided between the lever and the housing comprises a lever-side structure (76) provided to the lever (70), and a housing-side structure (27) provided to the housing (20).
The lever-actuated connector according to claim 2, wherein the lever-side structure (76) has a radius around a rotation shaft (41) of the lever (70) which is selectively increased, and the housing-side structure (27) is provided at a site on the housing (20) corresponding to the lever-side structure (76) and projecting beyond surroundings.
The lever-actuated connector according to claim 3, wherein the lever-side structure (76) comprises a portion of a supporting disk (72) of the lever (70) selectively made larger in radius than the remaining part of the supporting disk (72).
The lever-actuated connector according to any preceding claim, wherein the wire cover (40) has a specified direction in which an electrical wire is led out, and is capable of being mounted on the housing (20) with the direction in which an electrical wire is led out reversed.
The lever-actuated connector according to claim 5, wherein the lever (70) is attached to the wire cover (40) with an orientation corresponding to the direction in which an electrical wire is led out.