JP2003301961A - Solenoid valve manifold - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the miniaturization, and to change connecting direction of a multipole connector with the simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: A connector fitting housing 22 is slid from a lateral holding position P1 or an upward holding position P2, and the connector fitting housing 22 is turned at a position displaced from the position P1 or P2 to change connecting direction of the multipole connector 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solenoid valve manifold having a plurality of solenoid valves connected in series.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in this type of solenoid valve manifold, power is collectively supplied to each solenoid valve by connecting a connector of a connecting cable to a multipolar connector. . by the way,
If the installation location or installation orientation is changed after the solenoid valve manifold is installed once, and the connection direction of the multipole connector is only upward or sideways, it may be difficult to connect the connector of the connection cable. There is.

Therefore, as a conventional solenoid valve manifold for solving such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-18285 has been proposed.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 is known. That is,
As shown in FIG. 7, the multi-pole connector 62 provided in the solenoid valve manifold 61 is rotatably supported by the wiring-saving block 63. With this configuration,
The orientation of the multipolar connector 62 can be changed according to the installation location, installation attitude, etc. of the solenoid valve manifold 61.

However, as shown in FIG. 8, the multipolar connector 62 is rotated in a fixed position so that the connection direction can be changed.
It is necessary to avoid internal interference in the area where 2 rotates, and it is necessary to secure a rotating area around the multipolar connector 62 to some extent. Therefore, there is a problem in that the wiring-saving block 63 is increased in size, and as a result, the entire solenoid valve manifold 61 is increased in size.

In addition to the solenoid valve manifold 61 described above, as a solenoid valve manifold 71 capable of changing the connection direction of the multipolar connector 70, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-133240 is known. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, in this type of solenoid valve manifold 71, the multipolar connector 70 can be removed from the manifold main body and the connection direction can be changed. The solenoid valve manifold 71 does not increase in size as a whole unlike the solenoid valve manifold 61 shown in FIG. 7 described above. However, there is a problem that the workability is deteriorated because it is necessary to remove the multipolar connector 70 in order to change the connection direction.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the problems existing in such conventional techniques. Its purpose is
An object of the present invention is to provide a solenoid valve manifold that can be downsized and that can change the connection direction of a multipolar connector with a simple operation.

[0007]

(Invention of Claim 1) According to the invention of Claim 1, a plurality of solenoid valves are provided in series, and adjacent to the solenoid valve disposed at the end of the solenoid valves. Is provided with a wiring-saving block, and the wiring-saving block is provided with a multi-pole connector to which the solenoid valve is electrically connected, and the multi-pole connector can be selectively changed to either an upward direction or a horizontal direction. In the solenoid valve manifold, the multipolar connector is slidable outward from a lateral holding position in which the multipolar connector is held in a lateral state, and the multipolar connector is held in an upward state. The gist is that the multipolar connector can be slid above the upward holding position.

According to this construction, when the multipolar connector is in the lateral holding position, the multipolar connector is turned upward by rotating the multipolar connector at a position where it is slid outward. . On the other hand, when the multipolar connector is in the upward holding position, the multipolar connector is turned sideways by rotating the multipolar connector at the position where it is slid upward. In this way, when changing the orientation of the multi-pole connector, the multi-pole connector is rotated at the position moved from the holding position to the outside of the wiring-saving block, so that a rotation space is provided inside the wiring-saving block. No need to provide. Therefore, the wiring-saving block can be downsized, and as a result, the solenoid valve manifold can be downsized. Further, since it is not necessary to remove the multipolar connector from the wiring-saving block, the connection direction of the multipolar connector can be changed by a simple operation.

(Invention of Claim 2) According to the invention of Claim 2, in the solenoid valve manifold of Claim 1,
The multi-pole connector is housed in a housing, and the housing is attached to the wiring-saving block via a block cover, and the block cover has an L-shape extending outward from the lateral holding position and upward from the upward holding position. The gist of the present invention is that a guide groove is formed in the shape of a guide, and support shafts projecting from both ends of the housing are movably engaged with the guide groove along the guide groove.

According to this structure, the multipolar connector slides due to the displacement of the support shaft while being guided along the guide groove. Therefore, the multipolar connector can be easily arranged at the lateral holding position and the upward holding position.

(Invention of Claim 3) According to the invention of Claim 3, in the solenoid valve manifold of Claim 2,
A first bending portion capable of bending toward a central portion thereof is provided at both ends of the housing, and a first locking protrusion is provided on either one of the first bending portion and the block cover. At the same time, a first locking hole is provided on the other side, and the gist is that the first locking projection is engaged with the first locking hole when the multipolar connector is arranged in the lateral holding position.

According to this structure, when the multipolar connector is slid to the horizontal holding position, the first bending portion bends toward the central portion of the housing and the first locking hole and the first locking projection are engaged. By mating, the multi-pole connector is held in the lateral holding position. Therefore, the multipolar connector can be held at the lateral holding position by a simple operation.

(Invention of Claim 4) In the invention of Claim 4, in the solenoid valve manifold according to Claim 2 or 3, both ends of the housing can be bent toward the center thereof. A second bending portion is provided, a second locking projection is provided on one of the second bending portion and the block cover, and a second locking hole is provided on the other.
When the multi-pole connector is arranged in the upward holding position,
The gist is that the second locking projection is engaged with the second locking hole.

According to this structure, when the multipolar connector is slid to the upward holding position, the second bending portion bends toward the central portion of the housing while the second locking hole and the second locking projection are engaged. By mating, the multipolar connector is held in the upward holding position. Therefore, the multipolar connector can be held in the upward holding position by a simple operation.

(Invention of Claim 5) According to the invention of Claim 5, in the solenoid valve manifold of Claim 4,
The first bending portion and the second bending portion are made common and are made of one member, and either one of the two locking projections or both the locking holes arranged in the bending portion is also made common. The gist is that it is composed of one member.

According to this structure, the number of parts can be reduced, so that the structure for holding the multipolar connector at the lateral holding position or the upward holding position can be simplified.

(Invention of Claim 6) According to the invention of Claim 6, a plurality of solenoid valves are provided in series, and a wiring-saving block is provided adjacent to the solenoid valve disposed at the end of the solenoid valves. ,
A solenoid valve manifold is provided in which a multi-pole connector to which the solenoid valve is electrically connected is provided in the wiring-saving block, and the multi-pole connector can be selectively changed to either an upward direction or a horizontal direction. The gist is that the multipolar connector can be slid along a valve connecting direction and a vertical direction orthogonal to the valve connecting direction.

According to this structure, when the multipolar connector is in the lateral holding position, the multipolar connector is slid in the direction in which the solenoid valves are arranged and rotated at that position, whereby the multipolar connector is formed. It changes upward. On the other hand, when the multipolar connector is in the upward holding position, the multipolar connector is slid in the vertical direction and rotated at that position, so that the multipolar connector is changed to the horizontal direction. In this way, when changing the orientation of the multi-pole connector,
Since the multi-pole connector is rotated at the position moved from the holding position to the outside of the wiring-saving block, it is not necessary to provide a rotation space inside the wiring-saving block. Therefore, the wiring-saving block can be downsized, and as a result, the solenoid valve manifold can be downsized. Further, since it is not necessary to remove the multi-pole connector from the wiring-saving block, there is no possibility of inadvertent operation such as twisting of the cable portion, and the connection direction of the multi-pole connector can be changed by simple work. .

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the solenoid valve manifold 10 includes an end block 12 and a supply / exhaust block 1 arranged on a DIN rail 11.
3, plural valve blocks 14 and wiring-saving block 15
Is equipped with. The blocks 12 to 15 are continuously provided along the longitudinal direction of the DIN rail 11 and are held by a fixing member 16 so that they are not separated from each other.

One fluid pressure device is connected to each valve block 14, and each valve block 14
The pressure fluid is supplied to and exhausted from each fluid pressure device through the output ports 17 and 18 provided on the side surface of the.
Each valve block 14 is electrically operated to alternately switch one of the two output ports 17 and 18 for supply of air or the other for exhaust, thereby operating the fluid pressure device. .

Next, the main part of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, most of the wiring-saving block 15 is notched, and the notched portion 15a has a multi-pole connector 2 housed in a connector mounting housing 22.
3 is provided. The multipolar connector 23 is electrically connected to each valve block 14 via a lead wire (not shown) provided on the back side thereof. Then, a connector of a connection cable (not shown) extending from the power source is connected to the multipolar connector 23, so that power is collectively supplied to each valve block 14.

The wiring-saving block 15 is provided with a block cover 24 for covering a part of the side opening thereof, and the two housing support pieces 25 formed at both ends of the block cover 24 are the connector mounting housings. 22 and the wire-saving block 15, respectively. Each housing support piece 25 has an L-shaped guide groove 26.
And the guide groove 26 is formed in the wiring-saving block 1.
5, a portion extending along the lateral direction and a portion extending along the vertical direction. Support shafts 27 projecting from both side surfaces of the connector mounting housing 22 are engaged in the guide grooves 26. Then, by rotating the connector mounting housing 22 around the support shaft 27,
The multipolar connector 23 can be selectively changed to either the upward direction or the lateral direction.

By moving the support shaft 27 along the guide groove 26, the connector mounting housing 22 is slidable in the lateral direction of the solenoid valve manifold 10 and also in the longitudinal direction of the solenoid valve manifold 10. is there. The lateral direction of the solenoid valve manifold 10 corresponds to the direction in which the solenoid valve manifolds 10 are arranged in a row. Further, the vertical direction of the solenoid valve manifold 10 corresponds to a vertical direction orthogonal to the connecting direction of the solenoid valves 19 described in the claims.

At both ends of the connector mounting housing 22, cantilevered bending portions 30 which can be bent by their own elastic force are formed on the center side thereof. Flexure 3
The leading end portion of 0 projects from the end surface of the connector mounting housing 22, and the projecting portion serves as the operating portion 32. A locking projection 31 is formed in the vicinity of the central portion of the flexible portion 30, and the locking projection 31 is formed of either the first locking hole 33 or the second locking hole 34 formed in each housing support piece 25. The crab is selectively engaged.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the locking projection 31 is engaged with the first locking hole 33, whereby the multipolar connector 23 is held at the sideways holding position P1. When the multipolar connector 23 is arranged in the lateral holding position P1, the support shaft 27 of the connector mounting housing 22 is
It is arranged at one end of the guide groove 26. Therefore, when the multipolar connector 23 is arranged in the lateral holding position P1, the engagement between the locking projection 31 and the first locking hole 33 is released, so that the multipolar connector 23 becomes the solenoid valve manifold. Sliding outwards of 10 is allowed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
By engaging the locking projection 31 with the second locking hole 34, the multipolar connector 23 is held at the upward holding position P2. When the multipolar connector 23 is arranged at the upward holding position P2, the support shaft 27 of the connector mounting housing 22 is provided.
Is arranged at the other end of the guide groove 26. Therefore,
When the multipolar connector 23 is arranged in the upward holding position P2, the engagement between the locking projection 31 and the second locking hole 34 is released, so that the multipolar connector 23 is attached to the solenoid valve manifold 10. It is allowed to slide up.

The first locking projection and the second locking projection corresponding to the scope of the claims are made common and are composed of a locking projection 31 made of one member. Further, the first bending portion and the second bending portion corresponding to the scope of claims are made common, and are configured by the bending portion 30 made of one member in the present embodiment.

In the solenoid valve manifold 10 configured as described above, it may be necessary to change the connection direction of the multipolar connector 23 in accordance with changes in the installation location and installation posture.
In that case, the direction of the multipolar connector 23 can be changed by the method described below. First, a case where the multipolar connector 23 is changed from sideways to upwards will be described. 4 (a)-
As shown in (e), when the connector mounting housing 22 is arranged at the sideways holding position P1, the bending portion 30
Both operating parts 32 provided at the tip of the
The engagement between the engagement protrusion 31 and the first engagement hole 33 is released. Next, the connector mounting housing 22 is slid to the outside of the solenoid valve manifold 10, and the connector mounting housing 22 is rotated so that the multipolar connector 23 faces upward at the position where it abuts the corner of the guide groove 26.
After that, the connector mounting housing 22 is pushed into the wiring-saving block 15.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the housing support piece 25 in the block cover 24.
The locking projection 31 comes into contact with the upper end edge of the bending portion 30, and the bending portion 30 bends toward the center of the connector mounting housing 22. At this time, since the inclined surface 31a is formed in a part of the locking protrusion 31, the flexible portion 30 can be flexed smoothly. Then, when the connector mounting housing 22 is further pushed into the wiring-saving block 15, the locking projection 31 moves to the second position.
The multi-pole connector 23 is held in the upward holding position P2 by being engaged with the locking hole 34.

Next, the case where the multipolar connector 23 is changed from upward to lateral will be described. In this case, the locking projection 31 and the second locking hole 34 are released, and the multipolar connector 23 is turned sideways in the reverse order of the case of changing from the horizontal direction to the upward direction. Then, the connector mounting housing 22 is slid inward of the solenoid valve manifold 10 and pushed into the wiring-saving block 15.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the housing support piece 25 in the block cover 24.
The locking projection 31 comes into contact with the side end edge of the flexure 30 and the flexure 30 flexes toward the center of the connector mounting housing 22. Then, when the connector mounting housing 22 is further pushed into the wiring-saving block 15, the locking projection 31 is engaged with the first locking hole 33, and the multipolar connector 23 is held at the lateral holding position P1.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The connector mounting housing 22 is slid from the lateral holding position P1 or the upward holding position P2, and the connector mounting housing 22 is rotated at a position displaced from the respective positions P1 and P2 to change the connection direction of the multipolar connector 23. is doing. Therefore, when the connector mounting housing 22 rotates, it does not interfere with the wiring-saving block 15 and the block cover 24. Therefore, it is not necessary to secure a space in the wiring-saving block 15 for the rotation position to avoid this interference. As a result, the wiring-saving block 15 can be downsized, and the solenoid valve manifold 10 as a whole can be downsized. Moreover, since the connector mounting housing 22 is not attached to and detached from the wiring-saving block 15 in order to change the connection direction of the multipolar connector 23, the connection direction of the multipolar connector 23 can be changed by a simple operation. .

(2) The connector mounting housing 22 is slid while being guided by the guide groove 26. Therefore, the engagement protrusion 31 and the first engagement hole 33 or the second engagement hole 34 can be easily engaged.

(3) The connector mounting housing 22 is rotated to change the connection direction of the multi-pole connector 23 with the support shaft 27 attached to the right-angled corner portion of the guide groove 26. Therefore, the connector mounting housing 22 can be easily rotated, and the connection direction of the multipolar connector 23 can be changed more easily.

(4) Locking projections 31 are provided on the flexible portions 30 formed at both ends of the connector mounting housing 22. Then, when the multipolar connector 23 is held in the lateral holding position P1 or the upward holding position P2, the connector projection 22 is simply pushed into the wiring-saving block 15 to lock the locking projection 31 and the first locking hole 33. Can be engaged. Therefore, the multipolar connector 23 can be held at the lateral holding position P1 or the upward holding position P2 by a simple operation.

(5) The flexure 30 and the locking projection 31 are different from the first locking hole 33 and the second locking hole 34 in order to hold the multipolar connector 23 at the respective positions P1 and P2. It is not necessary to provide two. Therefore, the structure of the connector mounting housing 22 can be simplified.

(Another Embodiment) The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In the above embodiment, the bending projection 30 is provided with the locking projection 31, and the housing support piece 25 is provided with the first locking hole 33 and the second locking hole 34. Instead of this configuration, the positional relationship in which the locking projection 31 and the locking holes 33 and 34 are provided may be reversed. That is, two locking protrusions may be provided on the inner side surface of the housing support piece 25, and one locking hole may be provided in the flexible portion 30. With this configuration, when the locking hole formed in the flexible portion 30 is engaged with one locking projection, the multipolar connector 2
3 is held at the sideways holding position P1. Also, the bending portion 30
When the locking hole provided in the above is engaged with the other locking projection, the multipolar connector 23 is held at the upward holding position P2.

In the above embodiment, the shape of the guide groove 26 is L-shaped, but it may be changed to any shape.

[0039]

According to the invention described in each claim of the present application,
The size can be reduced, and the connection direction of the multipolar connector can be changed by a simple operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a solenoid valve manifold in which a multi-pole connector is oriented sideways.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a solenoid valve manifold with a multipolar connector facing upward.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a solenoid valve manifold.

4A to 4E are explanatory views showing a process of changing the connection direction of the multipolar connector.

5A to 5C are cross-sectional views showing a process of sliding the wiring-saving block to an upward holding position.

6A to 6C are cross-sectional views showing a process of sliding the wiring-saving block to a horizontal holding position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a solenoid valve manifold in the related art.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the connector mounting housing.

9 is a perspective view of a solenoid valve manifold showing a conventional technique different from those in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols] 10 ... Solenoid valve manifold, 19 ... Solenoid valve, 15 ... Wiring saving block, 22 ... Connector mounting housing (housing), 23 ... Multipolar connector, 24 ... Block cover, 2
6 ... Guide groove, 30 ... Bending portion (first bending portion, second bending portion), 31 ... (First locking protruding portion, second locking protruding portion), 33 ...
1st locking hole, 34 ... 2nd locking hole, P1 ... sideways holding position, P2 ... upward holding position.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of solenoid valves are connected in series, a wiring-saving block is provided adjacent to the solenoid valve arranged at an end of the solenoid valves, and the solenoid valve is electrically connected to the wiring-saving block. In a solenoid valve manifold in which a multi-pole connector is provided, and the multi-pole connector can be selectively changed to either an upward direction or a horizontal direction, a horizontal direction in which the multi-polar connector is held in a horizontal direction The multi-pole connector can be slid outward from the holding position, and the multi-pole connector can be slid above the upward holding position where the multi-polar connector is held in an upward state. Solenoid valve manifold. 2. The multi-pole connector is housed in a housing, and the housing is attached to the wiring-saving block via a block cover, and the block cover extends outward from a lateral holding position and from the upward holding position. An L-shaped guide groove extending upward is formed, and a support shaft protruding from both ends of the housing is engaged with the guide groove so as to be movable along the guide groove. 1. The solenoid valve manifold according to 1. 3. A first bending portion capable of bending toward the central portion side is provided at both ends of the housing.
When the first locking protrusion is provided on one of the flexible portion and the block cover and the first locking hole is provided on the other, the multipolar connector is arranged in the lateral holding position, and the first The solenoid valve manifold according to claim 2, wherein the locking projection is engaged with the first locking hole. 4. A second bending portion, which is bendable toward a central portion of the housing, is provided at both ends of the housing.
When one of the flexible portion and the block cover is provided with the second locking projection and the other is provided with the second locking hole, and when the multipolar connector is arranged in the upward holding position, the second locking projection is provided. The solenoid valve manifold according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the locking protrusion is engaged with the second locking hole. 5. The first bending portion and the second bending portion are made common and are made of one member, and either one of the locking projections or the locking holes arranged in the bending portion is provided. The solenoid valve manifold according to claim 4, wherein one of them is also made common and is composed of one member. 6. A plurality of solenoid valves are provided in series, a wiring-saving block is provided adjacent to the solenoid valve disposed at the end of the solenoid valves, and the solenoid valve is electrically connected to the wiring-saving block. In the solenoid valve manifold in which a multi-pole connector is provided, and the multi-pole connector can be selectively changed to either an upward direction or a horizontal direction, in the connecting direction of the electromagnetic valves and the connecting direction thereof, A solenoid valve manifold in which the multipolar connector is slidable in a vertical direction orthogonal to each other.