JP2000294337A - Lever fitting type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an operation space of engagement of a pair of female and male connectors and prevent mis-disengagement. SOLUTION: A lever fitting type connector 1 comprises a male connector housing 3 in which terminals are accommodated in a plurality of terminal accommodation rooms 13, a female connector housing 7 having a hood part 5 to which the male connector housing 3 is insertionally fitted and in which a plurality of counterpart terminals connected with the terminals are accommodated 5, and a lever 11 which is rotatably supported to the male connector housings 3, and in which an operation part 9 is projected outside of the hood part 5 and the male connector housing 3 is fitted in the hood part 5 of the female connector housing 7 by a rotation operation. This connector 1 is also provided with a projection amount decrease means A to decrease an amount of a projection of the operation part 9 from a circumference of the hood part 5 in a state of the male connector housing 3 completely filled in the hood part 5 or halfway of turning the lever 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lever fitting type connector in which a pair of male and female connectors are fitted together by lever operation and the fitting is released.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional lever fitting type connector of this type, there is, for example, one shown in FIGS.

The lever fitting type connector 101 is rotatably mounted on a male connector housing 103, a female connector housing 105 in which the male connector housing 103 is fitted, and a shaft 107 projecting from the female connector housing 105. And a supported connector fitting lever 109.

The lever 109 is urged in the opening direction of the lever 109 by a spiral spring member 111 fixed to the shaft 107.

The male connector housing 103 has a guide rib 113 projecting therefrom. Female connector housing 1
The guide recess 05 is provided with a guide recess 115 for guiding the guide rib 113 of the male connector housing 103.

The lever 109 is engaged with the guide rib 113 of the male connector housing 103 to push the male connector housing 103 into the female connector housing 105 or to release the male connector housing 103 from the female connector housing 105. A cam groove 117g to be advanced is provided.

A locking claw 119 is provided at the tip of the lever 109, and a locking arm 1 for engaging the locking claw 119 is provided at the top of the rear end of the male connector housing 103.
21 are provided.

In this lever fitting type connector 101, as shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C, when the lever 109 is urged by the spring member 111, the male connector housing 103 is connected to the female connector housing. The guide rib 113 of the male connector housing 103 is joined to the front end of the male connector housing 103.
Is engaged with the entrance of the cam groove 117 of the lever 109.

[0009] Then, the lever 109 is rotated in the closing direction (the direction of arrow R) to introduce the guide rib 113 into the cam groove 117 and push the male connector housing 103 in the direction of fitting the female connector housing 105 into the female connector housing 105.

When the lever 109 is tilted forward, the male connector housing 103 and the female connector housing 105 are completely fitted in the fully closed state, and the locking claw 119 at the tip of the lever 109 is engaged with the locking arm 121 of the male connector housing 103. Engages.

Therefore, a pair of male and female connectors can be fitted with a small force by the leverage principle.

When the two connector housings 103 and 105 are detached from the state where the pair of male and female connectors are fitted, the locking claw 11 is pushed by pushing the locking arm 121.
9 is disengaged, and both connector housings 103,
When the lever 105 is pulled, the lever 109 is
The urging force of 11 returns to the original open state, and the fitting between the male connector housing 103 and the female connector 105 is released.

[0013]

However, in the conventional lever-fitting connector 101 as described above, when the lever 109 is rotated in the closing direction and when the lever 109 returns in the opening direction, the distal end of the lever 109 is closed. Perform an arc movement, so that the lever 10
The amount of protrusion of the nine distal ends from the outer periphery of the female connector housing 105 is increased. For this reason, a large operation space for the lever 109 is required, and there is a problem in operability.

Further, since the distal end of the lever 109 protrudes from the outer periphery of the female connector housing 105 in a state where the pair of male and female connectors are completely fitted, an external force due to a hook of an electric wire or the like is applied to the distal end of the lever 109. As a result, the engagement of the locking claw 119 at the tip of the lever 109 with the locking arm 121 may be released by this external force, and the fitting between the female connector housing 105 and the male connector housing 103 may be erroneously released.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the amount of protrusion of the lever from the outer periphery of the female connector housing in a state where the pair of male and female connectors are completely fitted or during the rotation of the lever. Can be reduced,
As a result, an object of the present invention is to provide a lever fitting type connector which can save the operation space of the lever and can prevent erroneous release of fitting of the pair of male and female connectors.

[0016]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male connector housing in which terminals are accommodated in a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, and the male connector housing is inserted and fitted. A female connector housing having a plurality of mating terminals connected to the terminals, the female connector housing being accommodated in the hood portion; and an operating portion having the hood portion rotatably supported by the female connector housing. A lever protruding outside of the female connector housing, the lever being fitted into the hood of the female connector housing by a rotating operation, the lever being a male connector housing completely inserted into the hood. A projection amount reducing means for reducing the projection amount of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the hood portion in a state in which the operating portion is fitted or during the rotation of the lever. It is a symptom.

According to the present invention, the protrusion amount reducing means for reducing the protrusion amount of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the hood portion in a state where the male connector housing is completely fitted into the hood portion of the female connector housing or during the rotation of the lever. With this arrangement, the amount of protrusion of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the female connector housing when the pair of male and female connectors are completely fitted or during the rotation of the lever is reduced.

Therefore, the operation space of the lever can be saved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lever fitting type connector according to the first aspect, wherein the lever is provided with the operating portion at one end, and a lever main body, and the operating portion of the lever main body. A vertical rib provided on the side, and a horizontal rib rotatably supporting the lever body on the female connector housing, wherein the female connector housing is provided on a wall portion forming a hood portion of the female connector housing. A vertical rib sliding groove in which a vertical rib is slidably guided, and a horizontal rib sliding groove in which the horizontal rib is rotatably supported and the horizontal rib moves in a horizontal direction by rotation of the lever; The protrusion amount reducing means, the horizontal rib sliding groove,
It is characterized by being formed by the vertical rib sliding groove, the vertical rib, and the horizontal rib.

According to the present invention, when the female connector housing is inserted into the hood or escapes from the hood,
The vertical ribs of the lever body are guided by the vertical rib sliding grooves provided in the female connector housing, and linearly move in a direction in which the male connector housing fits into the hood portion and in a direction in which the male connector housing escapes from the hood portion. The horizontal rib is guided by a horizontal rib sliding groove provided in the female connector housing and moves in an orthogonal direction (horizontal direction).

Since the operating portion linearly moves in the fitting direction or the removing direction along with the movement of the lever main body, the amount of protrusion of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the female connector housing is reduced.

Therefore, an operation equivalent to that of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lever-fitting connector according to the first or second aspect, wherein the operation is performed in a state where the male connector housing is completely fitted to the hood portion of the female connector housing. A receiving portion whose portion is accommodated in the female connector housing is provided in a wall portion of the hood portion, and the horizontal rib sliding groove extends so as to guide the horizontal rib so that the operating portion can be completely accommodated in the receiving portion. It is characterized by being established.

According to the present invention, the operating portion of the lever is pushed in the orthogonal direction (horizontal direction) in a state where the male connector housing is completely fitted in the hood portion of the female connector housing, so that the horizontal rib is inserted into the female connector housing. The operation part is completely improved to the storage part provided on the wall of the hood part while being guided and moved by the extended horizontal rib sliding groove, so that the protrusion amount of the operation part from the outer periphery of the female connector housing is reduced. It becomes 0 (zero).

Therefore, the same operation as that of the first and second aspects of the present invention can be obtained, and when the pair of male and female connectors are completely fitted, the amount of protrusion of the lever from the outer periphery of the female connector housing is reduced. Since it is 0 (zero), the pair of male and female connectors can be miniaturized in the fitted state, and erroneous release of the mating of the pair of male and female connectors due to external force or the like can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lever fitting type connector according to the third aspect, wherein the horizontal rib sliding groove is provided on both opposing surfaces of the rotating concave portion through which the lever body is inserted. It is characterized by being provided.

In the present invention, since the horizontal rib sliding groove is provided on both opposing surfaces of the rotating concave portion through which the lever body is inserted, the horizontal rib is guided by the horizontal rib sliding groove and moves in the horizontal direction. At the same time, the lever body moves the rotating concave portion in the horizontal direction.

Accordingly, an operation equivalent to the operation of the invention described in the third aspect is obtained.

[0029]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the female connector housing shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of the female connector housing shown in FIG. FIG.
(A) to (c), FIGS. 6 (d) to (f), FIG. 7 (g),
(H) is an explanatory sectional view showing an operating state. However,
1 and 4, the lever is located at the pivot top dead center position, and in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lever is located at the pivot bottom dead center position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lever fitting type connector 1 includes a male connector housing 3, a female connector housing 7 having a hood portion 5 into which the male connector housing 3 is fitted, and a hood of the female connector housing 7. The operation unit 9 includes a lever 11 that is rotatably supported in the unit 5 and protrudes outside the hood unit 5.

In the male connector housing 3, terminal housing chambers 13 for housing female terminals (not shown) are arranged in two rows on the left and right sides, and are formed at a predetermined pitch by the same number in each row. Each terminal accommodating chamber 13 penetrates the male connector housing 3 from the top surface 3a to the bottom surface 3b of the male connector housing 3, and a female terminal attached to the tip of a lead wire is mounted through an opening in the top surface 3a. A male terminal 15 standing in the hood 5 of the female connector housing 7 from an opening in the bottom surface 3b.
(The other terminal) is inserted.

On the bottom surface 3b of the male connector housing 3,
A lever recess 17 into which the lever 11 is inserted is formed. The lever recess 17 is located in the middle of the terminal housing 13 arrangement and penetrates the bottom of the male connector housing 3 along the arrangement. A guide rib 19 is provided at a predetermined position in the lever concave portion 17. The guide rib 19 is provided by connecting both opposing surfaces of the lever concave portion 17 to oppose each other, and reinforces the male connector housing 3.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the lever 11 is
The lever main body 21 is provided with the operation section 9 provided on the top of one end side of the lever main body 21. Lever 11
The lever body 21 is connected to the hood 5 of the female connector housing 7.
The operation part 9 is rotatably protruded out of the hood part 5 from a slit 23 provided in one side wall part 5a of the hood part 5 of the female connector housing 7.

At the bottom of the other end of the lever main body 21, horizontal ribs 25 are provided on both wall surfaces of the lever main body 21 as pivot points for pivotally supporting the lever main body 21 on the female connector housing 7.

On both sides of the operation section 9 of the lever main body 21, the lever main body 21 is provided with the female connector housing 7.
There are provided vertical ribs 27 for supporting the male connector housing 3 in the fitting direction Y1 and the escape direction Y2.

At the top of the lever body 21, the male connector housing 3 is engaged with the guide rib 19 of the male connector housing 3 so that the male connector housing 3 is inserted into the hood 5 in the fitting direction Y1 or the male from the hood 5. A cam groove 29 for pushing the connector housing 3 in the escape direction Y2 is formed.

Further, at the top of the lever body 21, there is formed a guide rib guide holding portion 31 for holding the guide rib 19 movably in a direction X orthogonal to the fitting direction Y1 and the exit direction Y2. The guide rib guide holding portion 31 is formed continuously with the lower surface of the cam groove 29.

The female connector housing 7 has a male terminal 1
Many 5 are planted. One end of each male terminal 15 projects from the bottom of the female connector housing 7 to the left and right sides of the female connector housing 7 at a predetermined pitch. The other end of the male terminal 15 is connected to the female connector housing 7.
Are arranged in two rows on the left and right in the hood portion 5 and stand up at a predetermined pitch by the same number in each row, and the male connector housing 3 is fitted into the hood portion 5 so as to be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 13 of the male connector housing 3. The female terminals are inserted and connected to the female terminals.

The lever 11 is connected to the male terminal 1 in the hood 5.
Along the arrangement of No. 5, it is arranged rotatably at an intermediate position of the arrangement.

The slit 23 of the female connector housing 7 for rotatably projecting the operating portion 9 of the lever 11 from the hood portion 5 extends from the open end surface 5b of the hood portion 5 in the fitting direction Y1, and an opening is formed in the open end surface 5b. have. The top of the lever 11 projects from the opening of the slit 23 at the rotational top dead center position.

The two opposing surfaces 2 of the slit 23 opposing each other.
Vertical rib sliding grooves 33 for slidingly guiding the vertical ribs 27 provided on the lever main body 21 in the fitting direction Y1 and the escape direction Y2 are formed in 3a and 23a, respectively.

The bottom wall 5c of the hood 5 is inserted into the fitting direction Y1.
And a slit 23 in an orthogonal direction X orthogonal to the escape direction Y2.
, A turning recess 35 into which the lever body 21 is rotatably inserted is formed. The horizontal ribs 25 provided on the lever body 21 and communicating with the rotation concave portion 35 are movably held in the orthogonal direction X (horizontal direction) on both opposing surfaces 35a, 35a at the back of the rotation concave portion 35. The horizontal rib sliding groove 37 is formed. The horizontal rib sliding groove 37 and the rotating recess 35 communicate with each other with the slit 23 and the vertical rib sliding groove 33.

At the lower end of the slit 23, a housing portion 39 for accommodating the operating portion 9 of the lever 11 in the female connector housing 7 when the male connector housing 3 is completely fitted to the hood portion 5 is formed. I have. The horizontal rib sliding groove 37 is extended so as to guide the horizontal rib 25 so that the operation portion 9 of the lever 11 can be stored in the storage portion 39.

Hood 5 of the female connector housing 7
Vertical rib sliding groove 33 formed in one end side wall 5a of
Horizontal rib sliding groove 37 formed in bottom wall 5c of hood portion 5
And a horizontal rib 25 provided on the bottom of the other side of the lever body 21 of the lever 11 and a vertical rib 27 provided on the operation section 9 side of the lever body 21, the hood section 5 of the female connector housing 7. Projection amount reducing means A for reducing the amount of protrusion of the operation portion 9 from the outer periphery of the hood portion 5 in a state where the male connector housing 3 is completely fitted or during the rotation of the lever 11 is formed.

On the bottom surface of the female connector housing 7, two positioning projections 41 for attaching the female connector housing 7 to the electric circuit board are provided.

In the lever fitting type connector 1 described above, FIGS. 5A to 5C, FIGS. 6D to 6F, and FIGS.
As shown in (g) and (h), the bottom portion of the male connector housing 3 is inserted into the hood portion 5 of the female connector housing 7 with the lever 11 positioned at the rotational top dead center position, and the lever body 21 When the guide rib 19 of the male connector housing 3 is introduced into the cam groove 29 and the operating portion 9 of the lever 11 is pressed down, the lever main body 21 rotates about the horizontal rib 25 as a rotation fulcrum. When the sliding groove 37 is moved in the orthogonal direction X (horizontal direction), the vertical rib 27 moves the vertical rib sliding groove 33 in the fitting direction Y1. By the rotation of the lever main body 21, the upper surface of the cam groove 29 of the lever main body 21 and the guide rib 19 of the male connector housing 3 are engaged, and the male connector housing 3 is advanced malely in the fitting direction Y1. Therefore, the pair of male and female connectors can be fitted with a small force by the leverage principle.

Further, by lifting the operating portion 9 of the lever 11 in a state where the pair of male and female connectors are fitted, the lower surface of the cam groove 29 of the lever body 21 and the guide rib 19 of the male connector housing 3 are engaged, The male connector housing 3 is pushed in the escape direction Y2, and the engagement between the pair of male and female connectors can be released with a small force by the leverage principle.

Moreover, in this lever-fit type connector 1, when the lever 11 rotates, the vertical rib 27
Is guided by the vertical rib sliding groove 33 and moves linearly.
The operation portion 9 of the lever 11 linearly moves, and the amount of protrusion of the operation portion 9 from the outer periphery of the hood portion 5 during rotation of the lever 11 is reduced.

Therefore, the operation space of the lever 11 can be saved and the operability can be improved.

When the male connector housing 3 is completely fitted to the hood portion 5 of the female connector housing 7, the operating portion 9 of the lever 11 is pushed forward in the orthogonal direction X (horizontal direction), whereby the horizontal rib 25 is moved. As shown in FIG. 7H, the operation portion 9 is housed in the housing portion 39 of the female connector housing 7 and moves from the outer periphery of the hood portion 5 of the operation portion 9. Is 0 (zero)
Becomes

At this time, the guide rib 19 provided in the lever concave portion 17 of the male connector housing 3 is guided by the guide rib guide holding portion 31 provided continuously with the cam groove 29 of the lever main body 21, and the lever main body 21 Move relative.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the lever fitting type connector in the fitted state and to improve the stability of the fitting.

[0053]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the male connector housing is completely fitted into the hood portion of the female connector housing or during the rotation of the lever. The amount of protrusion of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the hood is reduced by the protrusion amount reducing means.

Therefore, the operation space of the lever can be saved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the male connector housing is inserted into the hood portion or escapes from the hood portion, the vertical rib of the lever main body is attached to the vertical rib slide provided on the female connector housing. Guided by the moving groove,
The male connector housing moves linearly in the direction of insertion into the hood portion and in the direction of escape from the hood portion, and the horizontal ribs of the lever body are guided by the horizontal rib sliding grooves provided in the female connector housing so as to be orthogonal (horizontal). Direction).

Since the operating portion linearly moves in the fitting direction or the removing direction along with the movement of the lever main body, the amount of protrusion of the operating portion from the outer periphery of the female connector housing is reduced.

Therefore, an operation equivalent to the operation of the first aspect is obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operating portion of the lever is pushed in the orthogonal direction (horizontal direction) in a state where the male connector housing is completely fitted in the hood portion of the female connector housing. The horizontal rib is guided and moved by a horizontal rib sliding groove extending in the female connector housing, and the operation part is completely improved by a storage part provided on the wall of the hood part. The protrusion amount from the outer periphery of the housing becomes 0 (zero).

Therefore, the same operation as the first and second aspects of the present invention can be obtained, and when the pair of male and female connectors are completely fitted, the amount of protrusion of the lever from the outer periphery of the female connector housing is reduced. Since it is 0 (zero), the pair of male and female connectors can be miniaturized in the fitted state, and erroneous release of the mating of the pair of male and female connectors due to external force or the like can be prevented.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the horizontal rib sliding groove is provided on both opposing surfaces of the rotating concave portion through which the lever body is inserted, the horizontal rib is guided by the horizontal rib sliding groove. The lever body moves in the horizontal direction while the lever body moves in the horizontal direction.

Accordingly, an operation equivalent to that of the third aspect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the female connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are cross-sectional explanatory views showing an operation state of one embodiment.

FIGS. 6 (d) to 6 (f) are cross-sectional explanatory views showing an operation state of one embodiment.

FIGS. 7 (g) and 7 (h) are cross-sectional explanatory views showing an operation state of one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional example.

9 (a) to 9 (c) are explanatory views showing operation states of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lever fitting type connector 3 Male connector housing 5 Hood part 5a Hood part wall 7 Female connector housing 9 Operation part 11 Lever 13 Terminal accommodating room 21 Lever main body 25 Horizontal rib 27 Vertical rib 33 Vertical rib sliding groove 35 Rotation recess 35a Opposing surface of rotating concave portion 37 Sliding groove of horizontal rib 39 Storage section A Projection amount reducing means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5E021 FA05 FA09 FA14 FA16 FC36 FC40 HB03 HB05 HC31 5E023 AA04 BB02 BB12 BB13 DD11 DD14 EE04 GG01 HH30

Claims (4)

[Claims] A male connector housing having terminals accommodated in a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, and a hood portion into which the male connector housing is inserted and fitted, wherein a plurality of mating terminals connected to the terminals are provided. A female connector housing housed in a hood portion, and an operation portion rotatably supported by the female connector housing and projecting outside the hood portion to rotate the male connector housing by the rotation operation. A lever fitted with a lever to be fitted into the hood portion, wherein the male connector housing is completely fitted into the hood portion, or the outer periphery of the hood portion of the operating portion during rotation of the lever. A lever fitting type connector provided with a protrusion amount reducing means for reducing a protrusion amount from the lever. 2. The lever-fit type connector according to claim 1, wherein the lever is provided with the operating portion at one end, and a lever body, and a vertical rib provided on the operating portion side of the lever body. And a horizontal rib for rotatably supporting the lever body in the female connector housing, wherein the female connector housing is provided on a wall forming a hood portion of the female connector housing, and the vertical rib is slidably guided. A vertical rib sliding groove, and a horizontal rib sliding groove in which the horizontal rib is rotatably supported and the horizontal rib is moved in the horizontal direction by the rotation of the lever. The horizontal rib sliding groove, the vertical rib sliding groove,
A lever fitting type connector comprising the vertical rib and the horizontal rib. 3. The lever fitting type connector according to claim 1, wherein the male connector housing is completely fitted to the hood portion of the female connector housing.
An accommodating portion in which the operating portion is accommodated in the female connector housing is provided on a wall portion of the hood portion, and the horizontal rib sliding groove guides the horizontal rib so that the operating portion can be completely accommodated in the accommodating portion. A lever-fit type connector, which is extended to the connector. 4. The lever fitting type connector according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal rib sliding groove is provided on both opposing surfaces of a turning recess through which the lever body is inserted. Lever fitting type connector.