JP2003197309A - Lever type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce force required for releasing turn regulation for a lever. <P>SOLUTION: A locking protrusion 40 is formed along an inlet 35 of a cam groove 34, and a locking face 41 is locked to a locking groove serving as a relief groove for a follower pin to regulate turn of the lever 30 from an initial position. A pressing part for lock release is provided in a mating male housing. In a face projected toward an inside of the locking protrusion 40, a front end side is a guide face 42 of an ascending slope, a rear end side is a relief face 43 of a descending slope, and a face contrary to the locking face 41 is cut diagonally upwards from a root toward a midway position of the top of the guide face 42 to form a sloped run-on auxiliary face 44. The pressing part advanced into the locking groove is run onto the locking protrusion 40 along a ridge line 45 in a boundary between the guide face 42 and the run-on auxiliary face 44 to displace the locking protrusion 40 to an outside of the locking groove to push out it, while deforming openingly an arm part 31 of the lever 30. The turn regulation for the lever 30 is released thereby. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a lever-type connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a lever type connector, a lever having a cam groove is mounted on one housing, and a follower pin is formed on the other housing. After the housings are brought close to each other and the follower pin is inserted into the cam groove, the lever is inserted. By rotating, both housings are gradually fitted by the cam action. Therefore, in this type of connector, it is necessary to hold the lever at a predetermined initial position so that the follower pin can be properly inserted into the cam groove at the first fitting.

Conventionally, as a means for holding the lever at the initial position, the one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-223539 is known. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, a locking projection 6 is formed on the side edge of the inlet of the cam groove 2 in the lever 3, and the locking projection 6 is formed on the side of the escape groove 7 of the follower pin 5 formed in the housing 1. By locking to the edge, the lever 3 is held in a rotation restricted state from the initial position. On the other hand, a follower pin 5 is provided on the mating housing 4.
When the pressing portion 8 is formed on the root side of the housing and the housings 1 and 4 are first fitted, the pressing portion 8 enters the escape groove 7 and engages as shown by the arrow x in FIG. Riding on the inside of the stop projection 6 and opening the tip of the lever 3 and pushing out the locking projection 6 to the outside of the escape groove 7 as shown by the arrow y in the figure, thereby releasing the rotation restriction of the lever 3. It is supposed to do. In particular, it is effective in that the rotation restriction can be released while the displacement amount of the locking projection 6 is kept small.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art is, in the end, structured so that the pressing portion 8 is run over the inside of the locking projection 6 while opening the tip of the lever 3 and therefore receives a considerable amount of resistance. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the contact surface of the pressing portion 8 or the engaging projection 6 has a tapered guide surface 8A.
Although the resistance is reduced by providing the above, there are cases in which the resistance is still insufficient depending on the type of product, and further improvement has been desired. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to further reduce the force required to release the rotation restriction of the lever.

[0005]

As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is such that a lever having a cam groove is rotatably provided on one of a pair of connector housings which are fitted to each other. The follower pin is provided on the other side, and the follower pin is introduced into the cam groove of the lever in the initial position at the initial fitting of both connector housings, and the cam groove and the follower are moved in accordance with the turning operation of the lever. A lever-type connector in which both connector housings are fitted by a cam action between the pins, and a locking groove that opens forward in the fitting direction is formed in the one connector housing, and Is provided with a locking protrusion that locks the lever in a rotation restricted state from the initial position by locking to the side edge of the locking groove, and In the connector housing, in the initial stage of fitting, a pressing portion that enters the locking groove and displaces the locking projection so as to be disengaged from the locking groove, thereby releasing the rotation restriction state of the lever. The engaging projection is provided with an upwardly sloping guide surface for guiding the pressing portion in the riding direction on the front end side where the pressing portion abuts, and the side edge of the engaging groove. It is characterized in that a riding assisting surface is formed on the side surface on the opposite side to the side that is locked to, and is obliquely cut so that the width gradually narrows from the root toward the protruding end.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the structure according to the first aspect, an oblique guide surface is formed at an end portion of the pressing portion that abuts the locking projection. It has characteristics. The invention according to claim 3 is the one according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rear end side of the locking projection is
It is characterized in that it is formed in a tapered shape with a downward slope.

[0007]

<Advantages and effects of the invention><Invention of claim 1> When the pressing portion enters the locking groove with the initial fitting of both connector housings, the pressing portion has the guide surface and the riding assist surface of the locking projection. While riding along the ridgeline of the boundary between and, the locking protrusion is displaced to the outside of the locking groove and pushed out, whereby the rotation restriction of the lever is released. The ridgeline between the guide surface and the riding assisting surface has an upward slope in the approach direction of the pressing portion and an upward slope in the pushing direction of the locking projection, so that the pressing portion has the locking projection. It is possible to ride on the locking projection very smoothly in order to push out the portion, that is, the resistance when riding is suppressed to a low level. In other words, the rotation restriction of the lever can be released with a small force.

<Invention of Claim 2> Since the slanting guide surface is provided also on the pressing portion side, the pressing portion can be more smoothly mounted on the locking projection. <Invention of Claim 3> When the locking projection is disengaged from the locking groove and the lever is rotated, the locking projection comes into sliding contact with the outer surface of one connector housing. The rear end side also has a downwardly sloping taper and is escaped, and only a part near the top of the guide surface is slidably contacted, so the frictional resistance is kept small and the lever turning operation is light. It can be carried out.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
Or, it demonstrates based on FIG. The lever-type connector of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, has a female connector housing 10 (hereinafter referred to as a female housing).
A male connector housing 20 (hereinafter referred to as a male housing), and a lever 3 attached to the female housing 10.
It is composed of 0 and 0. In the following description, the fitting surface side of each of the housings 10 and 20 will be described as the front.

The female housing 10 has a shape in which a large hood portion 12 that is open forward is formed around the tower portion 11. Inside the tower portion 11, a female terminal fitting (not shown) is provided.
Is inserted from the rear and housed. Male housing 2
0 is a device direct connection type, and the small hood part 2
1 is formed in a protruding shape, and this small hood portion 21
Can be fitted into an annular space between the tower portion 11 and the large hood portion 12 of the female housing 10. A male-side terminal fitting is mounted on the male housing 20 with a tab at the tip protruding into the small hood portion 21.

A lever 30 is mounted on the female housing 10. The lever 30 is formed in a gate shape in which the distal ends of a pair of left and right plate-shaped arm portions 31 are connected by an operation portion 32, and is mounted so as to straddle the female housing 10 and opened in the arm portion 31. The shaft hole 33 is rotatably supported by being fitted into the support shafts 14 projecting from both side surfaces of the large hood portion 12. In detail, as shown in FIG. 3, the operating portion 32 is rotatable between an initial position in which the operating portion 32 stands up and an end position in which the operating portion 32 falls down as shown in FIG.

A predetermined curved cam groove 34 is formed on the inner surface of the arm portion 31 of the lever 30.
On the left and right side surfaces of the small hood portion 21 of the male housing 20, a pair of follower pins 23 that tightly fit in the respective cam grooves 34 are projected. The left and right side surfaces of the large hood portion 12 of the female housing 10 will be described in detail later,
The locking groove 15 that also serves as a relief groove for the follower pin 23,
It is formed by cutting inward from the front edge. And
As shown in FIG. 3, when the lever 30 is in the above-described initial position, the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34 is aligned with the locking groove 15 and opens straightly forward, so that both housings 1
The follower pin 23 can be introduced into the cam groove 34 by fitting 0 and 20 together.

Next, the structure of the portion that holds the lever 30 at the initial position and the portion that releases it will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the locking groove 15 which also serves as the above-mentioned relief groove is formed such that the upper edge side is wider than the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34, and the upper edge thereof is the locking edge 15A. . On the other hand, a locking protrusion 40 that locks in the locking groove 15 is formed on the lever 30 side. As shown in FIG. 3, the locking projection 40 is formed along the upper groove edge of the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34, is elongated in the depth direction as a whole, and as shown in FIG. It projects inward by a predetermined dimension (a little less than half the depth of the locking groove 15). The upper surface of the locking protrusion 40 is a flat locking surface 41, which is fitted into the locking groove 15 from the outer surface side when the lever 30 takes the initial position, and the locking surface 41 is locked. By being caught on the edge 15A, the lever 30 is held in a state in which the lever 30 is restricted from rotating clockwise from the initial position in FIG. The engaging protrusion 40 has the follower pin 23 in the cam groove 3
4, the follower pin 23 does not interfere with the locking projection 40.

As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the inwardly projecting surface of the locking projection 40 is such that the front end side having a length of about 1/3 has an upward slope toward the rear, and a pressing portion 50 described later is provided. A guide surface 42 is provided for boarding and riding, and the rear end side of the remaining 2/3 length is a gently tapered relief surface 43. Further, the lower surface side opposite to the locking surface 41 is cut obliquely upward from the root toward an intermediate position on the top of the guide surface 42 to form an inclined riding assist surface 44. Here, the chain line of the enlarged view in FIG.
The shape before the riding assist surface 44 is cut is shown.

On the other hand, on the male housing 20 side, a pressing portion 50 for releasing the locking of the locking projection 40 with respect to the locking groove 15 is provided. First, the base portion of the follower pin 23 is formed with a pedestal portion 51 slidably fitted in the locking groove 15 over a region protruding from the position of the follower pin 23 to the upper side in FIG. The portion protruding above the follower pin 23 is the pressing portion 5.
It is 0. The tip edge of the pressing portion 50 is formed in a quarter circle shape, and the surface of the tip portion is
As shown in FIG. 1, the guide surface 52 is a slanted guide surface 52.

Further, the height of the pressing portion 50 from the small hood portion 21 is lower than that of the follower pin 23 and is flush with the outer surface of the large hood portion 12 when fitted into the mating locking groove 15. It is set to various dimensions. Therefore, the pressing portion 5
When 0 enters into the locking groove 15, the locking projection 40 of the lever 30 is ridden from the inside so that the locking projection 40 moves outside from the locking edge 15A of the locking groove 15 to the outside. Can be displaced.

This embodiment has the structure as described above,
Next, the operation will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the lever 30 is attached to the female housing 10 at an initial position. At this time, the locking projection 40 is fitted into the locking groove 15 from the outer surface side, and the locking surface 41 is locked to the locking edge 15A, so that the rotation from the initial position is restricted. Has been done. Since the lever 30 is at the initial position, the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34 is opened straight forward.

From this state, the female housing 10 is fitted toward the male housing 20 as shown by the arrows in FIGS. 3 and 4. At the initial stage of fitting, the follower pin 23 enters the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. Along with this, the pressing portion 50 enters into the locking groove 15, and the guide surface 52 at the tip thereof is guided by the guide surface 4 of the locking projection 40.
Abut 2. When the female housing 10 is subsequently pushed in, the surface of the pressing portion 50 follows the root portion of the guide surface 42 and rides inside the locking projection 40. At this time, the pressing portion 50
9 rides along the ridgeline 45 at the boundary between the guide surface 42 and the riding assistance surface 44 of the locking projection 40.
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the locking projection 40 is displaced to the outside of the locking groove 15 and pushed out while the arm portion 31 of the lever 30 is opened and deformed. This releases the restriction on the rotation of the lever 30.

From this state, the female housing 1 is further
When 0 is pushed in, the follower pin 23 presses the slope 34A at the back of the inlet 35 of the cam groove 34, whereby the lever 30 is rotated by a small angle as shown in FIG. The female housing 10 is retained on the side so that the female housing 10 does not come off. Then, when a finger is put on the operation portion 32 to rotate the lever 30 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 11, the female housing 10 is moved by the cam action between the follower pin 23 and the cam groove 34.
And is gradually fitted. At the beginning of the rotation, the locking projection 40 comes into sliding contact with the outer surface of the large hood portion 12, but the rear end side of the locking projection 40 also has a downwardly sloping taper shape and escapes. The sliding surface is the guide surface 42
Since it can be fastened only to a part near the top of the, the frictional resistance can be suppressed to be small and the turning operation of the lever 30 can be performed lightly. As shown in FIG. 12, the turning operation is completed when the lever 30 is turned to the terminal position, and the two housings 10 and 20 are properly fitted. In the lever 30, the lock piece 38 provided on the operation portion 32 is provided with the female housing 10.
It is locked by being elastically locked to the lock portion 17 provided on the rear surface side.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
The pushing portion 50 displaces the locking projection 40 to the outside of the locking groove 15 and pushes it out while riding along the ridgeline 45 of the boundary between the guide surface 42 and the riding assist surface 44 of the locking projection 40. The ridge line 45 between the guide surface 42 and the riding assisting surface 44 has an upward slope in the approach direction of the pressing portion 50 and an upward slope in the pushing direction of the locking projection 40. Therefore, the pressing portion 50 can ride on the locking projection 40 very smoothly in order to push out the locking projection 40, that is, the resistance at the time of running can be suppressed to a small level. In other words,
The rotation restriction of the lever 30 can be released with a small force. Further, by providing the slanting guide surface 52 also on the pressing portion 50 side, the pressing portion 50 can be more smoothly mounted on the locking projection 40.

<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 to the above, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) The locking groove may be formed separately from the relief groove of the follower pin so as to lock the lever at the initial position by locking the locking projection of the lever. (2) Depending on the shape of the male and female housings, the lever may be mounted on the male housing side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male and female housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of male and female housings.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of a male and female housing before fitting.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view seen from the bottom surface thereof.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a lever

FIG. 6 is a front view of the female housing in the initial mating state.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view seen from the bottom.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view thereof.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the female housing in a state where the locking protrusion is disengaged from the locking groove.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view seen from the bottom.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view thereof.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which male and female housings are properly fitted.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Female housing (one connector housing) 15 ... Locking groove 15A ... Locking edge 20 ... Male housing (other connector housing) 23 ... Follower Pin 30 ... Lever 31 ... Arm part 34 ... Cam groove 35 ... Entrance 40 ... Locking protrusion 41 ... Locking surface 42 ... Guide surface 43 ... Relief surface 44 ... Riding assist surface 45 ... Ridge 50 ... Pressing part 52 ... Guide surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lever having a cam groove is rotatably provided on one of a pair of connector housings that are fitted to each other, and a follower pin is provided on the other of the pair of connector housings. The follower pin is introduced into the cam groove of the lever in
A lever-type connector in which both connector housings are fitted by a cam action between the cam groove and the follower pin in accordance with a turning operation of a lever, wherein the one connector housing has a front portion in a fitting direction. A locking groove that is open to the side is formed, and the lever is provided with a locking projection that locks the side edge of the locking groove to hold the lever in a rotation restricted state from the initial position, In the other connector housing, in the initial stage of the fitting, the rotation restriction state of the lever is released by displacing the locking projection so as to be removed from the locking groove by entering the locking groove. The locking projection is provided with an upwardly sloping guide surface for guiding the pressing portion in the riding direction at the front end side where the pressing portion abuts, and the locking groove. Side of Lever-type connector to the side where it is engaged with the opposite side, characterized in that the auxiliary surface riding been made cut obliquely such gradually becomes narrower towards the projecting end from the root is formed. 2. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, wherein an oblique guide surface is formed at an end of the pressing portion that comes into contact with the locking projection. 3. The lever type connector according to claim 1, wherein a rear end side of the locking projection is formed in a tapered shape with a downward slope.