EP4208923A1

EP4208923A1 - Connector

Info

Publication number: EP4208923A1
Application number: EP21772781.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Renzhong LIN; Eiichiro Takemasa; Yusuke Okada; Liqiang Yao; Yong Wang
Original assignee: Sibas Electronics Xiamen Co Ltd; Tyco Electronics Japan GK
Current assignee: Sibas Electronics Xiamen Co Ltd; TE Connectivity Japan GK
Priority date: 2020-09-03
Filing date: 2021-09-03
Publication date: 2023-07-12
Also published as: WO2022049234A1; KR20230054897A; CN213184791U; JP7790839B2; JP2023540924A

Abstract

A connector comprises of: a lower housing (10); a lower core (1) installed in the lower housing (10); an upper housing (20) detachably connected with the lower housing (10); an upper core (2) installed in the upper housing (20) and adapted to mate with the lower core (1); a lock (100) whose lower part is rotationally mounted on an outer wall of the lower housing (10) to maintain the connection between the upper housing (20) and the lower housing (10); and a spring (200) located between the lower housing (10) and the lock (100) to apply an elastic locking force to the lock (100). An ear (21) protruding outwards is formed on an outer wall of the upper housing (20), a recess (140) adapted to latch with the ear (21) is formed on the lock (100), and a guide slope (130a) is formed on an upper part of the lock (100). In the process of mating the lower core (1) and the upper core (2), the ear (21) of the upper housing (20) slides downward along the guide slope (130a) and is guided into the recess (140) by the guide slope (130a). In the present invention, the assembly and locking of the lower housing and the upper housing are realized at the same time in the process of mating the lower core and the upper core. It is unnecessary to assemble and lock the lower housing and the upper housing separately, which reduces the installation steps and makes the assembly of the connector more convenient and simple.

Description

CONNECTOR

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No.

CN202021900984.6 filed on September 3, 2020 in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a connector.

Description of the Related Art

In the prior art, the heavy-duty connector usually includes an upper housing, a lower housing, an upper core and a lower core. During assembly, the upper core and the lower core are mated together firstly, and then the upper housing and the lower housing are assembled and locked together. In the prior art, after the upper housing and the lower housing are assembled together, it needs to lock the upper housing and the lower housing together by manually operating the lock, which has many operation steps and is time-consuming.

In addition, in the prior art, in order to achieve sufficient sealing grade, the deformation of the elastic sealing ring needs to reach a certain proportion, and the deformation recovery force of the elastic sealing ring makes the locking process of the upper housing and the lower housing more difficult. Since the direction of the locking force of the lock is opposite to the direction of the deformation recovery force of the elastic sealing ring, a larger locking force is needed to complete the locking process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the above mentioned disadvantages.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector, comprising: a lower housing; a lower core installed in the lower housing; an upper housing detachably connected with the lower housing; an upper core installed in the upper housing and adapted to mate with the lower core; a lock whose lower part is rotationally mounted on an outer wall of the lower housing to maintain the connection between the upper housing and the lower housing; and a spring located between the lower housing and the lock to apply an elastic locking force to the lock. An ear protruding outwards is formed on an outer wall of the upper housing, a recess adapted to latch with the ear is formed on the lock, and a guide slope is formed on an upper part of the lock; In the process of mating the lower core and the upper core, the ear of the upper housing slides downward along the guide slope and is guided into the recess by the guide slope.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the ear of the upper housing slides downward along the guide slope of the lock, the ear overcomes the elastic force of the spring and pushes the lock to rotate from an initial position to a termination position; when the ear of the upper housing moves over a lower end of the guide slope and is guided into the recess, the lock is automatically returns to the initial position under the action of an elastic restoring force of the spring.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the lock is rotated to the initial position, the recess is latched with the ear to lock the lower housing and the upper housing together; when the lock is rotated to the termination position, the recess is separated from the ear to unlock the lower housing and the upper housing from each other.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the lock comprises of a pair of rotation arms whose lower parts are rotationally connected to a pair of side walls of the lower housing respectively; a connection part connected between the pair of rotation arms; and a pair of guide parts connected to upper parts of the pair of rotation arms respectively. The guide slope is formed on the guide part.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the recess is formed at a connecting part between the guide part and the rotation arm and is adjacent to the lower end of the guide slope.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the lock further comprises a handle used to rotate the lock to an unlock position where the lock is separated from the ear.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the handle is connected to a middle part of an upper edge of the connection part and bends a predetermined angle outward.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a blocking protrusion is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing, and the blocking protrusion blocks the lock in the initial position before assembling the lower housing and the upper housing.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, one end of the spring is connected to the outer wall of the lower housing, and the other end of the spring is connected to the rotation arm of the lock in a way that it is movable relative to the lock.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a connecting ear is formed on an inner side of the rotation arm of the lock, a through hole is formed in the connecting ear; and the other end of the spring passes through the through hole, so that it is movable relative to the through hole.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a convex part is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing, a slot is formed in the convex part; and one end of the spring is inserted and held in the slot.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a blocking slope is formed on the convex part, and the blocking slope is configured to limit the maximum bending angle of the spring to prevent the spring from being over bent.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connector further comprises an elastic sealing ring compressed between the lower housing and the upper housing to seal a mating interface between the lower housing and the upper housing.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a local protrusion is formed on a contact surface of the lower housing in contact with the elastic sealing ring; the local protrusion is configured to compress a local part of the elastic sealing ring to reduce the elastic deformation force of the elastic sealing ring during assembling the connector.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the spring is integrally formed with the lock.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the spring is integrally formed with the lower housing.

In the aforementioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the assembly and locking of the lower housing and the upper housing are realized at the same time in the process of mating the lower core and the upper core. It is unnecessary to assemble and lock the lower housing and the upper housing separately, which reduces the installation steps and makes the assembly of the connector more convenient and simple.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.l is an illustrative perspective view of a lower housing and a lock of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.2 is an illustrative perspective view of the lower housing shown in Fig.l;

Fig.3 is an illustrative perspective view of the lock shown in Fig.l;

Fig.4 is an illustrative sectional view of the lower housing and the lock shown in Fig.l;

Fig.5 is an illustrative perspective view of an upper housing of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig.6 is an illustrative assembly view of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.7 shows an assembly process of a connector, in which an ear of an upper housing just contacts with a guide slope of a lower housing;

Fig.8 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear of the upper housing slides downward along the guide slope of the lower housing;

Fig.9 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear of the upper housing slides downward along the guide slope of the lower housing to the lowest end of the guide slope;

Fig.10 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear of the upper housing passes over the lowest end of the guide slope and is guided to the recess;

Fig.l 1 is an illustrative sectional view of the assembled connector; and

Fig.12 is an illustrative partial enlarged view of the connector shown in Fig.11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE IVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

According to a general concept of the present invention, there is provided a connector, comprising: a lower housing; a lower core installed in the lower housing; an upper housing detachably connected with the lower housing; an upper core installed in the upper housing and adapted to mate with the lower core; a lock whose lower part is rotationally mounted on an outer wall of the lower housing to maintain the connection between the upper housing and the lower housing; and a spring located between the lower housing and the lock to apply an elastic locking force to the lock. An ear protruding outwards is formed on an outer wall of the upper housing, a recess adapted to latch with the ear is formed on the lock, and a guide slope is formed on an upper part of the lock; In the process of mating the lower core and the upper core, the ear of the upper housing slides downward along the guide slope and is guided into the recess by the guide slope. Fig.1 is an illustrative perspective view of a lower housing 10 and a lock 100 of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig.2 is an illustrative perspective view of the lower housing 10 shown in Fig.l; Fig.3 is an illustrative perspective view of the lock 100 shown in Fig. l; Fig.4 is an illustrative sectional view of the lower housing 10 and the lock 100 shown in Fig.l; Fig.5 is an illustrative perspective view of an upper housing 20 of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig.6 is an illustrative assembly view of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figs.1-6, in an embodiment, the connector mainly comprises a lower housing 10, a lower core 1 (see Fig.11), an upper housing 20, an upper core 2 (see Fig.11), a lock 100, and a spring 200. The lower core 1 is installed in the lower housing 10. The upper housing 20 is detachably connected with the lower housing 10. The upper core 2 is installed in the upper housing 20 and adapted to mate with the lower core 1. The lower part of the lock 100 is rotationally mounted on an outer wall of the lower housing 10. The lock 100 is configured to maintain the connection between the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 10. The spring 200 is located between the lower housing 10 and the lock 100 to apply an elastic locking force to the lock 100.

Fig.7 shows an assembly process of a connector, in which an ear 21 of an upper housing 20 just contacts with a guide slope 130a of a lower housing 10; Fig.8 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 slides downward along the guide slope 130a of the lower housing 10; Fig.9 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 slides downward along the guide slope 130a of the lower housing 10 to the lowest end of the guide slope 130a; Fig.10 shows the assembly process of the connector, in which the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 passes over the lowest end of the guide slope 130a and is guided to the recess 140.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, an ear 21 protruding outwards is formed on an outer wall of the upper housing 20. A recess 140 adapted to latch with the ear 21 is formed on the lock 100. A guide slope 130a is formed on an upper part of the lock 100. As shown in Figs.7- 10, in the process of mating the lower core 1 and the upper core 2, the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 slides downward along the guide slope 130a and is guided into the recess 140 by the guide slope 130a, so as to realize the assembly and locking of the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 simultaneously in the process of mating the lower core 1 and the upper core 2.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, when the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 slides downward along the guide slope 130a of the lock 100, the ear 21 overcomes the elastic force of the spring 200 and pushes the lock 100 to rotate from an initial position (that is, the position where the ear 21 has not yet contacted the guide slope 130a) to a termination position (that is, the position where the ear 21 slides downward along the guide slope 130a to the lowest end of the guide slope 130a).

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, when the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 moves over a lower end of the guide slope 130a and is guided into the recess 140, the lock 100 is automatically returns to the initial position under the action of an elastic restoring force of the spring 200. Thus, the ear 21 of the upper housing 20 is locked in the recess 140 of the lock 100, and the assembly and locking of the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 can be realized simultaneously in the process of mating the lower core 1 and the upper core 2.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, when the lock 100 is rotated to the initial position, the recess 140 is latched with the ear 21 to lock the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 together. When the lock 100 is rotated to the termination position, the ear 21 is separated from the recess 140 to unlock the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 from each other, and the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 are allowed to be separated from each other.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, the lock 100 comprises of a pair of rotation arms 110, a connection part 120 and a pair of guide parts 130. The lower parts of the pair of rotation arms 110 are rotationally connected to a pair of side walls of the lower housing 10 respectively. The connection part 120 is connected between the pair of rotation arms 110. The pair of guide parts 130 are connected to upper parts of the pair of rotation arms 110 respectively. The guide slope 130a is formed on the guide part 130.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, the recess 140 is formed at a connecting part between the guide part 130 and the rotation arm 110 and is adjacent to the lower end of the guide slope 130a.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, the lock 100 further comprises a handle 150. By operating the handle 150, the lock 100 may be rotated to an unlock position where the lock 100 is separated from the ear 21.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, the handle 150 is connected to a middle part of an upper edge of the connection part 120 and bends a predetermined angle outward.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, a blocking protrusion 11 is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing 10. The blocking protrusion 11 blocks the lock 100 in the initial position before assembling the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, one end of the spring 200 is connected to the outer wall of the lower housing 10, and the other end of the spring 200 is connected to the rotation arm 110 of the lock 100 in a way that it is movable relative to the lock 100.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, a connecting ear 111 is formed on an inner side of the rotation arm 110 of the lock 100. A through hole Il la is formed in the connecting ear 111. The other end of the spring 200 passes through the through hole I l la, so that it is movable relative to the through hole I l la.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, a convex part 12 is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing 10. A slot 12a is formed in the convex part 12. One end of the spring 200 is inserted and held in the slot 12a.

As shown in Figs.1-10, in an embodiment, a blocking slope 12b is formed on the convex part 12, and the blocking slope 12b is configured to limit the maximum bending angle of the spring 200 to prevent the spring 200 from being over bent.

Fig.11 is an illustrative sectional view of the assembled connector; and Fig.12 is an illustrative partial enlarged view of the connector shown in Fig.l 1.

As shown in Figs.11-12, in an embodiment, the connector further comprises an elastic sealing ring 30. The elastic sealing ring 30 is compressed between the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20 to seal a mating interface between the lower housing 10 and the upper housing 20.

As shown in Figs.11-12, in an embodiment, a local protrusion 10a is formed on a contact surface of the lower housing 10 in contact with the elastic sealing ring 30. The local protrusion 10a is configured to compress a local part of the elastic sealing ring 30 to reduce the elastic deformation force of the elastic sealing ring 30 during assembling the connector. In this way, the assembly of the connector is more labor-saving.

In the illustrated embodiments, the spring 200 is an independent component formed separately from the lock 100 and the lower housing 10. However, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, for example, the spring 200 may be formed integrally with the lock 100, or the spring 200 may be formed integrally with the lower housing 10.

It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to "one embodiment" of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments "comprising" or "having" an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.

Claims

What is claimed is,

1. A connector, comprising: a lower housing (10); a lower core (1) installed in the lower housing (10); an upper housing (20) detachably connected with the lower housing (10); an upper core (2) installed in the upper housing (20) and adapted to mate with the lower core (1); a lock (100) whose lower part is rotationally mounted on an outer wall of the lower housing (10) to maintain the connection between the upper housing (20) and the lower housing (10); and a spring (200) located between the lower housing (10) and the lock (100) to apply an elastic locking force to the lock (100), wherein an ear (21) protruding outwards is formed on an outer wall of the upper housing (20), a recess (140) adapted to latch with the ear (21) is formed on the lock (100), and a guide slope (130a) is formed on an upper part of the lock (100), wherein in the process of mating the lower core (1) and the upper core (2), the ear (21) of the upper housing (20) slides downward along the guide slope (130a) and is guided into the recess (140) by the guide slope (130a).

2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein when the ear (21) of the upper housing (20) slides downward along the guide slope (130a) of the lock (100), the ear (21) overcomes the elastic force of the spring (200) and pushes the lock (100) to rotate from an initial position to a termination position; when the ear (21) of the upper housing (20) moves over a lower end of the guide slope (130a) and is guided into the recess (140), the lock (100) is automatically returns to the initial position under the action of an elastic restoring force of the spring (200).

3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein when the lock (100) is rotated to the initial position, the recess (140) is latched with the ear (21) to lock the lower housing (10) and the upper housing (20) together; when the lock (100) is rotated to the termination position, the recess (140) is separated from the ear (21) to unlock the lower housing (10) and the upper housing (20) from each other.

4. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the lock (100) comprises of: a pair of rotation arms (110) whose lower parts are rotationally connected to a pair of side walls of the lower housing (10) respectively;

9 a connection part (120) connected between the pair of rotation arms (110); and a pair of guide parts (130) connected to upper parts of the pair of rotation arms (110) respectively, wherein the guide slope (130a) is formed on the guide part (130).

5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the recess (140) is formed at a connecting part between the guide part (130) and the rotation arm (110) and is adjacent to the lower end of the guide slope (130a).

6. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the lock (100) further comprises a handle (150) used to rotate the lock (100) to an unlock position where the lock (100) is separated from the ear (21).

7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein the handle (150) is connected to a middle part of an upper edge of the connection part (120) and bends a predetermined angle outward.

8. The connector according to claim 2, wherein a blocking protrusion (11) is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing (10), and the blocking protrusion (11) blocks the lock (100) in the initial position before assembling the lower housing (10) and the upper housing (20).

9. The connector according to claim 4, wherein one end of the spring (200) is connected to the outer wall of the lower housing (10), and the other end of the spring (200) is connected to the rotation arm (110) of the lock (100) in a way that it is movable relative to the lock (100).

10. The connector according to claim 9, wherein a connecting ear (111) is formed on an inner side of the rotation arm (110) of the lock (100), a through hole (11 la) is formed in the connecting ear (111); and wherein the other end of the spring (200) passes through the through hole (Il la), so that it is movable relative to the through hole (11 la).

11. The connector according to claim 9, wherein a convex part (12) is formed on the outer wall of the lower housing (10), a slot (12a) is formed in the convex part (12); and wherein one end of the spring (200) is inserted and held in the slot (12a).

12. The connector according to claim 11, wherein a blocking slope (12b) is formed on the convex part (12), and the blocking slope (12b) is configured to limit the maximum bending angle of the spring (200) to prevent the spring (200) from being over bent.

13. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising: an elastic sealing ring (30) compressed between the lower housing (10) and the upper housing (20) to seal a mating interface between the lower housing (10) and the upper housing (20).

14. The connector according to claim 13, wherein a local protrusion (10a) is formed on a contact surface of the lower housing (10) in contact with the elastic sealing ring (30); wherein the local protrusion (10a) is configured to compress a local part of the elastic sealing ring (30) to reduce the elastic deformation force of the elastic sealing ring (30) during assembling the connector.

15. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the spring (200) is integrally formed with the lock (100) or the lower housing

(10).

11