JP2002190350A - Lever connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce frictional force between a lever and a connector, and to improve operability of the lever. SOLUTION: A protrusion 22 is formed confronting in the inner wall of a cam groove 18 provided in the lever 15. When a cam pin 21 of a male connector housing 20 is guided, only the top of the protrusion 22 is butted with the outer circumferential surface of the cam pin 21, and a contact area of a sliding part of the lever 15 is reduced. A protruding fringe 23 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of a support shaft 12 and butted with an inner surface of a shaft hole 17 formed in a cam plate 16. Parts, corresponding to the support shaft 12, the shaft hole 17, the cam groove 18 and the cam pin 21 of a die for molding both connectors are made into a smooth finish by mirror finishing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a lever type connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a lever type connector, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-275337 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, the female connector housing 1 is provided with a lever 2 that can rotate around a support shaft 5 that protrudes from both side walls. The lever 2 is formed such that a pair of cam plate portions 3 that are in close contact with both side walls of the female connector 1 are connected to connecting pieces 4 at their ends and straddle the female connector 1.
A shaft hole 6 is formed in the center of each of the cam plate portions 3 so as to engage with the support shaft 5 and enable the lever 2 to rotate. Also, the cam grooves 7 are formed in the two cam plate portions 3.
Are provided in an arc shape from one end to the vicinity of the insertion hole 6, and are provided so as to be able to introduce cam pins 9 provided on both side walls of the male connector housing 8. When the male and female connectors are fitted, the cam pins 9 are introduced into the cam grooves 7, and when the lever 2 is rotated about the support shaft 5, the cam pins 9 move along the cam grooves 7.
Are guided and the two connectors are fitted so as to be drawn. Thereafter, the rotation of the lever 2 is regulated by a lock mechanism (not shown), and the lever 2 is held in a properly fitted state.

[0003]

By the way, lowering the resistance when operating the lever 2 is useful for improving the workability, and for that purpose, it is necessary to reduce the frictional force at the sliding portion relating to the lever 2. There is. The sliding portion has a relationship between the support shaft 5 and the shaft hole 6 and a relationship between the cam pin 9 and the cam groove 7. However, in the past, such considerations were not enough, and there was room for improvement.

The present invention has been completed in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reduce friction at a portion where the lever 2 and both connectors rub against each other, thereby improving operability. I do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a connector housing in which a cam pin is provided on one connector housing and a cam pin is provided on the other connector housing. A lever-type connector, wherein a lever is rotatably provided on the connector housing, and a cam groove is formed on the lever to guide the cam pins with the rotation operation and bring both connector housings into a fitted state. A feature is that a frictional force reducing means is provided in a portion that rubs with the other connector housing in accordance with the turning operation of the lever.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the frictional force reducing means is formed by mirror-finishing at least one side of the rubbing portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the frictional force reducing means is formed by a protrusion or a recess provided on one side rubbing against the other side. However, it has features.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the lever is rotated when fitting or disengaging the two connector housings, the lever rubs between the center of rotation or the cam pin and the cam groove. It will be. In this case, in the first aspect of the present invention, since a means for reducing the frictional force is provided in such a rubbed portion, the operating force can be reduced by reducing the sliding resistance.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rubbing portion is mirror-finished, and the smooth surfaces rub against each other.
The frictional force can be similarly reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the protrusion or the concave portion rubs against the counterpart, a low frictional force is achieved by reducing the contact area.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a female connector housing, and reference numeral 20 denotes a male connector housing. A male terminal fitting (not shown) is mounted inside the male connector housing 20, and a pair of cam pins 21 are provided on both inner side walls so that the male connector housing 20 can be fitted into the female connector housing 10.

The female connector housing 10 has a female terminal fitting (not shown) mounted therein, and can be connected to the male terminal fitting when both connectors are fitted. Although not shown, the electric wires connected to the respective terminal fittings are led out downward in FIG. 1 in the case of the male connector housing 20. On the other hand, the female connector housing 10 is led out while changing the angle by 90 degrees to the right in FIG.

A pair of support shafts 12 protrude from both side walls of the female connector housing 10 so as to fit the male and female connectors.
A lever 15 for detachment is attached rotatably about the support shaft 12. The lever 15 is provided with a pair of cam plate portions 1 that are in close contact with both side walls of the female connector housing
6 and a connecting portion connecting the distal ends of the female connector housing 6 to form a U-shape. The cam plate portions 16 are each provided with a shaft hole 17 that can be engaged with the support shaft 12 and an arc-shaped cam groove 18 around the support shaft 12. The cam groove 18 is guided by the cam pin 21 along the cam groove 18 with the rotation of the lever 15 when the two male and female connector housings 10 and 20 are fitted. It is possible to reach a joint state.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the cam pin 21 into the cam groove 18 when the male and female connectors are fitted, the lever 1 is adjusted so that the entrance of the cam groove 18 is aligned with the cam pin 21.
5 can be temporarily held at a predetermined position. For this purpose, a stopper projection 14 is provided on the side wall of the female connector housing 10 so as to protrude from both edges, and the side edge of the cam plate portion 16 of the lever 15 is connected to the stopper projection 1 before fitting the male and female connectors.
4, the entire lever 15 is positioned as shown in FIG.
(Disengaged position).

In order to fit the two connector housings, the lever 15 is rotated clockwise from the disengaged position in FIG. 1 to the normal fitting position in FIG. Locking piece 1 in this position
1 is provided, and is hooked on a locking piece provided at a connecting portion of the lever 15 to prevent the lever 15 from returning. After the lever 15 has passed through the lock piece 11, the rotation of the lever 15 is restricted by the stopper stepped surface 13 provided on the wall surface of the female connector housing 10. That is, since the rotation of the lever 15 is also restricted in the fitting direction and the disengaging direction, the lever 15 is held at the regular fitting position.

Incidentally, in the connector of the present embodiment, a frictional force reducing means is provided at a sliding portion of the lever 15 in order to reduce the operating force of the lever 15. Specifically, the sliding resistance is reduced between the support shaft 12 and the shaft hole 17 which are the center of rotation of the lever 15 and between the cam groove 18 and the cam pin 21. A pair of protrusions 22 are formed on the inner wall of the cam groove 18 so as to face each other along the length direction of the cam groove 18. The protruding portion 22 is formed so as to gradually increase the protruding height from the bottom surface side to the center of the cam plate portion 16. Therefore, when the cam pin 21 is introduced into the cam groove 18, only the top of the projection 22 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cam pin 21, so that the contact area is reduced to reduce the sliding resistance. A protruding edge 23 is formed at the center of the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 12 of the female connector housing 10 along the circumferential direction. As a result, the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole 12 on the lever 15 side is brought into contact with the protruding edge 23, so that a reduction in the contact area reduces the sliding resistance. In addition, the portions corresponding to the support shaft 12, the shaft hole 17, the cam groove 18, and the cam pin 21 in the mold for molding both connector housings are sufficiently polished,
These sliding surfaces are smoothed by mirror finishing.

Next, the operation and effect of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. When fitting both connector housings, the male connector housing 20 is loosely fitted into the female connector housing 10 and the cam pins 21 are introduced into the inlet of the cam groove 18. Next, when the lever 15 is rotated clockwise from the disengaged position in FIG. 1, the cam pin 21 is guided along the cam groove 18. As a result, when the cam pins 21 reach the end of the cam groove 18 as shown in FIG. The matching state is maintained. During the rotation operation of the lever 15, a frictional force acts between the support shaft 12 and the shaft hole 17, which are sliding parts of the lever 15, and between the cam groove 18 and the cam pin 21, and the resistance at the time of operating the lever 15 is reduced. Occurs. However, between the support shaft 12 and the shaft hole 17, the protruding edge 23 only hits the hole wall of the shaft hole 17, and between the cam pin 21 and the cam groove 18, the protrusion 2
Only 2 hits the outer peripheral surface of the cam pin 21,
In each case, the contact area is smaller than in the conventional case, so that the sliding resistance is reduced. In addition, since these sliding surfaces are made smooth by mirror finishing, the sliding resistance is further reduced.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
When both connectors are fitted together, the frictional force generated between the lever 15 and the connector can be reduced, and the operability of the lever 15 has been improved.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the cam groove 1 is used.
8 at the opposing position of the inner wall surface, similar to the first embodiment.
Is provided. On the other hand, a concave groove 25 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cam pin 21 over the entire circumference, so that the cam pin 21 is in sliding contact with the projection 24 while being fitted. However, the protrusion height of the protrusion 24 is set longer than the depth of the groove 25. When the protrusion 24 is fitted into the groove 25, the cam groove 18 except for the fitting portion is fitted. Inner surface and cam pin 21
Is in a non-contact state with the outer peripheral surface.

In the second embodiment configured as described above,
The rotation of the lever 15 causes the cam pin 21 to move into the cam groove 18.
During the displacement, the protrusion 24 and the inner surface of the concave groove 25 only slightly contact each other, so that the sliding resistance is small, so that the lever 15 can be operated with a light force. In addition, the displacement between the cam pins 21 can be guided by the engagement between the protrusions 24 and the concave grooves 25, so that the operation of the lever 15 can be stabilized.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the first embodiment, the protrusion 22 is provided in the cam groove 18.
The protruding edge 23 is provided on the support shaft 12, but may be provided on each of the cam pin 21 and the shaft hole 17.

(2) In the second embodiment, the projection 24 is provided in the cam groove 18 and the concave groove 25 is provided in the cam pin 21, but they may be provided in reverse.

(3) In each of the above embodiments, the frictional force is reduced by reducing the contact area. However, the shape between the support shaft 12 and the shaft hole 17 and between the cam pin 21 and the Lubricating oil may be applied between the groove 18.

(4) In each of the above embodiments, the lever connector of the type in which the electric wire is led out by changing the angle by 90 degrees from the right of the female connector housing 10 has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other types of lever connectors. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a state where both connectors are detached.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a state where both connectors are fitted.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cam groove.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a support shaft and a shaft hole.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the engagement state between the cam groove and the cam pin.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional state in which both connectors are detached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Female connector housing 12 ... Support shaft 15 ... Lever 17 ... Shaft hole 18 ... Cam groove 20 ... Male connector housing 21 ... Cam pin 22 ... Protrusion 23 ... Protrusion edge 24 ... Protrusion 25 ... Concave groove

Claims (3)

[Claims] A cam pin is provided on one of the connector housings that can be fitted with each other, and a lever is provided on the other connector housing so as to be rotatable. And a cam groove for guiding the cam pins to bring the two connector housings into a mating state with each other. A lever type connector provided with a reduction means. 2. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, wherein said frictional force reducing means is formed by mirror-finishing at least one side of said rubbing portion. 3. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, wherein the frictional force reducing means is formed by a protrusion or a recess provided on one side being rubbed against the other side. .