JP2007026769A - Locking structure for connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a locking structure capable of miniaturizing a connector. <P>SOLUTION: The connector locking structure 10 is constructed to make a male connector 12 to engage with a female connector 22. A short cylindrical male hood 14 is formed in the male connector 12 and engagement pawls 16 are provided on the peripheral surface of the male hood 14 to project therefrom. A short cylindrical flexible female hood 24 is formed in a male connector 22, and recess parts for engagement 26 are formed in the female hood 24 to engage with the engagement pawls 16. The female hood 24 is bent by pushing its peripheral surface, so that the engagement pawls 16 engaging with the recess parts for engagement 26 can be released. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector locking structure for locking a male connector and a female connector.

  In the connector structure, generally, the male connector and the female connector are electrically connected by mechanically locking in a locked state (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Hereinafter, an example of a conventional connector locking structure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 8 (FIG. 5 of Patent Document 1), the male connector 82 is formed with a short cylindrical male hood 84 and the female connector 92 is formed with a short cylindrical female mold. A hood 94 is formed. The male hood 84 is formed so that a flexible arm 85 extends, and the female hood 94 is latched by a locking claw 86 formed outside the arm 85 in the hood radial direction. A locking recess 96 is formed.

  When the male connector 82 is inserted into the female connector 92, the locking claw 86 enters the locking recess 96, and the male connector 82 and the female connector 92 are locked and locked by the arm 85.

  Here, the user releases the locking by pressing the arm 85 with a finger and removing the locking claw 86 from the locking recess 96.

However, by forming the flexible arm 85, it is necessary to form a space 95 in the connector so that the arm 85 can bend. For this reason, the dimension (especially thickness) of a connector increased and there existed a problem that size reduction of the connector was prevented.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-36771

  In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector locking structure that enables downsizing of the connector.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a connector locking structure for locking a male connector and a female connector, wherein the male connector is formed with a short cylindrical male hood, and the male hood The female connector is formed with a flexible female hood having a short cylindrical shape, and the female hood is engaged with the latch claw. A recess is formed, and the locking claw locked in the locking recess can be unlocked by pressing and bending the female hood from the outer surface side. .

  Thus, in the invention according to the first aspect, the female hood is made flexible, and a locking claw protruding from the outer surface of the male hood is provided in place of the conventional arm. The female hood is formed with a recess for locking.

  Thereby, it is not necessary to form a space for bending the arm in the connector as in the conventional case, and the connector can be greatly reduced in size compared to the conventional case.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the side direction of the female hood is a longitudinal direction, and the position where the pressing force for bending the female hood acts is on both sides of the female hood, The position where the locking recess is formed is at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the female hood.

  The upper and lower sides of the female hood are greatly bent with a small pressing force. Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently reduce the pressing force required to release the lock.

  The invention according to claim 3 is a connector lock structure for locking the male connector and the female connector, wherein the female connector is formed with a short cylindrical and flexible female hood, A locking claw projects from the inner surface of the female hood, a short cylindrical male hood is formed on the male connector, and the male hood locks the locking claw. A recess is formed, and the locking claw locked in the locking recess can be unlocked by pressing and bending the female hood from the outer surface side. .

  Thus, as in the first aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to form a space for bending the arm in the connector, and the connector can be significantly reduced in size compared to the prior art.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the width of the female hood is longer than the height, and the position where the pressing force for bending the female hood acts is both ends in the width direction of the female hood, and the locking The position where the nail is formed is at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the female hood.

  Thereby, like the invention of Claim 2, the pressing force required to release the lock can be reduced efficiently.

  Since the present invention has the above configuration, the following effects can be obtained.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to greatly reduce the size of the connector as compared with the conventional case.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently reduce the pressing force required to release the lock.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to greatly reduce the size of the connector as compared with the prior art.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently reduce the pressing force required to release the lock.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described and embodiments of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the connector lock structure 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a structure for locking the male connector 12 and the female connector 22 in a locked state.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the male connector 12 is formed with a short cylindrical male hood 14, and a locking claw 16 is projected from the male hood outer surface 14 </ b> E. A plurality of male connector terminals 18 are arranged in the male hood 14.

  The female connector 22 is formed with a short cylindrical and flexible female hood 24, and the female hood 24 is formed with a locking recess 26 for locking the locking claw 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the locking recess 26 extends from a position slightly on the insertion direction side to the insertion tip side from the front surface 24F of the female hood 24 (the surface on the side where the male connector 12 is inserted). It is formed as an elongated through hole. In the female hood 24, a plurality of female connector terminals 28 that engage with the male connector terminals 18 are formed. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the female hood 24 has a double structure.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the width B2 in the side direction U of the female hood 24 is longer than the height h in the height direction V. The position where the pressing force for bending the female hood 24 acts, that is, the position where the user presses the female hood 24 with a finger is on both sides of the female hood 24, that is, both ends in the width direction.

  The width B2 of the female hood 24 in the side direction U is longer than the width B1 of the male hood 14, and when the male connector 12 is connected to the female connector 22, the width of the female connector 22 is increased. A gap 34 (see FIG. 3) is formed so that both ends in the width direction of the male connector 12 are not pressed even if both ends in the direction are pressed.

  The positions where the locking recesses 26 are formed are the center positions in the connector width direction on the upper and lower sides of the female hood 24.

  To connect the male connector 12 and the female connector 22, the male connector 12 is inserted into the female connector 22. As a result, the locking claw 16 comes into contact with the inner surface side of the non-recessed portion 30 constituting the portion from the front surface 24F of the female hood 24 to the recessed portion 26 for locking, and the flexible female hood 24 is bent. Mu

  When the locking claw 16 passes through the non-recess 30 and reaches the locking recess 26 by further inserting the male connector 12, the locking claw 16 enters the locking recess 26, The bending of the female hood 24 is eliminated. As a result, the locking claw 16 is locked to the end 30E of the non-recessed portion 30 (see FIG. 4). In this state, the ring-shaped sealing portion 32 formed on the female connector 22 is in contact with the inner surface side of the male hood 14, and the connector is sealed to provide a waterproof measure. It has become.

  In order to release the connection between the male connector 12 and the female connector 22, the user presses both side portions 24S of the female connector 22 with fingers as shown in FIG. As a result, the female hood 24 bends, the interval between the non-recess portions 30 expands in the vertical direction, and the locking claw 16 is positioned inside the hood with respect to the inner surface of the non-recess portion 30. In this state, since the male connector 12 can be pulled out from the female connector 22, the locked state can be easily released.

  As described above, in the connector lock structure 10 according to the present embodiment, the female hood 24 is made flexible, and the locking claw 16 is projected from the male hood outer surface side 14E instead of the conventional arm, A locking recess 26 for locking the locking claw 16 is formed in the female hood 24. This eliminates the need for forming a space for bending the arm in the male connector 12 and the female connector 22 as in the prior art, so that the connector can be greatly reduced in size compared to the conventional art.

  A locking recess 26 is formed as a through hole. As a result, the female hood 24 is easily bent when the locking claw 16 abuts against the non-recessed portion 30 as compared with a case where the locking claw 16 does not penetrate as in a locking recessed portion 46 described later.

  Furthermore, the side direction of the female hood 24 is set to the longitudinal direction, and the position where the user presses the female hood 24 with a finger is on both sides of the female hood 24, that is, both ends in the longitudinal direction. And the position where the recessed part 26 for latching is formed is the connector width direction center position of the upper side of the female type | mold hood 24, and a lower side. Thereby, the female type | mold food | hood site | part in which the non-recessed part 30 is formed can be moved largely with a small pressing force. Therefore, the pressing force required to release the lock can be greatly reduced.

  Instead of the locking concave portion 26 formed as an elongated through hole, a groove-shaped locking concave portion 46 that does not penetrate may be provided as shown in FIGS. Thereby, it is easy to increase the strength of the female hood.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the above embodiments are merely examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the locking claw 16 may protrude from the female hood inner surface 24 </ b> I (see FIG. 1), and the locking recess 26 for locking the locking claw 16 may be formed in the male hood 14. Needless to say, the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

1A and 1B are a plan view and a side sectional view showing a pair of male connectors and female connectors, respectively, described in the first embodiment. It is a front view of the male connector demonstrated in 1st Embodiment. It is a front view of the female connector demonstrated in 1st Embodiment. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows that the male connector and the female connector are latched by the connector lock structure in 1st Embodiment. In 1st Embodiment, it is a front view which shows the state which the female connector bent by pressing a female connector from both sides. FIGS. 6A and 6B are a plan view and a side cross-sectional view showing a pair of male connectors and female connectors, respectively, described in a modification of the first embodiment. In the modification of 1st Embodiment, it is side surface sectional drawing which shows that the male connector and the female connector are latched by the connector lock structure. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows an example of the lock structure of the conventional connector.

Explanation of symbols

10 Connector lock structure (Connector lock structure)
12 Male connector 14 Male hood 14E Male hood outer surface side (outer surface side)
16 Locking Claw 22 Female Connector 24 Female Hood 24I Female Hood Inside (Inside)
26 Locking recess 24S Both side parts (width direction both ends)
46 Locking recess 82 Male connector 84 Male hood 92 Female connector 94 Female hood 86 Locking claw 96 Locking recess

Claims (4)

A connector locking structure for locking a male connector and a female connector,
The male connector is formed with a short cylindrical male hood, and a locking claw is projected on the outer surface side of the male hood,
The female connector has a short cylindrical and flexible female hood, and the female hood has a locking recess for locking the locking claw,
The connector locking structure according to claim 1, wherein the locking of the locking claw locked in the locking recess can be released by pressing and bending the female hood from the outer surface side. The female hood has a width longer than a height,
The position where the pressing force for bending the female hood acts is both ends in the width direction of the female hood,
The connector locking structure according to claim 1, wherein the position where the locking recess is formed is at least one of an upper side and a lower side of the female hood. A connector locking structure for locking a male connector and a female connector,
The female connector is formed with a short cylindrical and flexible female hood, and a locking claw is projected on the inner surface side of the female hood,
The male connector is formed with a short cylindrical male hood, and the male hood is formed with a locking recess for locking the locking claw,
The connector locking structure according to claim 1, wherein the locking of the locking claw locked in the locking recess can be released by pressing and bending the female hood from the outer surface side. The female hood has a width longer than a height,
The position where the pressing force for bending the female hood acts is both ends in the width direction of the female hood,
The connector locking structure according to claim 3, wherein a position where the locking claw is formed is at least one of an upper side and a lower side of the female hood.

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