JP2008288001A - Re-connection prevention mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a re-connection prevention mechanism in which intentional re-connection can also be prevented pulling out connectors from each other, related to a connector pair. <P>SOLUTION: When the connector 1 is pulled out of the connector 2, a contact portion 21 and a contact portion 22 are displaced into a space (initial space) in which a projection 10 of the connector 1 has initially been located. Further, also a contact portion 23 and a contact portion 24 are displaced into an initial space. By this, even if the connectors are tried to be re-connected, displaced contact portions 23, 24 and the end 13 of the projection 10 may collide with each other, and therefore, re-connection is surely prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector pair, and more particularly to a mechanism for preventing re-fitting after removal.

  For example, the monitor device in an endoscope system and an in-vivo introduction member (having a camera at the tip) connected to the monitor device, while one is repeatedly used while the other is disposable for hygiene reasons A form may be adopted. In order to cope with such a usage pattern, the connector portion that connects the in-vivo introduction member and the monitor device is prevented from being re-fitted to prevent it from returning to the mating state after the transition from the mating state to the removal state once. It is being considered to provide a mechanism.

  Conventionally, there exists a connector currently disclosed by patent document 1 as this kind of re-fitting prevention mechanism. The connector described in Patent Document 1 includes first and second connectors. The second connector includes a first housing that can be fitted to the first connector, and a second housing that can be fitted to the first housing. A locking means is provided between the inside of the housing and the outside of the second housing. When the second connector is removed from the first connector, the locking means works and the movement in the fitting direction is restricted.

JP-A-2005-150015

  However, with the re-fitting prevention mechanism described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that intentional re-fitting such as forcibly re-fitting cannot be prevented.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the re-fitting prevention mechanism which can also prevent intentional re-fitting.

  According to the present invention, from the first connector provided with the first fitting control means having the collision surface and the first and second held surfaces, the first to fourth contact portions, the urging means, and the transmission means. A second fitting control means, and a fitting preventing mechanism comprising a first connector and a second connector capable of being fitted and removed in a first direction, wherein the biasing means comprises: The first abutting portion is urged so that the first abutting portion is directed to the second abutting portion in a second direction that is a direction orthogonal to the first direction, and the first abutting portion is urged in the second direction. The second abutting portion is urged so that the second abutting portion is directed to the first abutting portion, and the transmission means is configured to transmit the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion. The movement in the second direction is transmitted to the third contact portion and the fourth contact portion, respectively, The first fitting control means occupies an initial space in the second connector, and the first abutting portion abuts on the first held surface in the second direction and the first When the two abutting portions abut on the second held surface and the first connector is removed from the second connector, the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion enter the initial space. Accordingly, the first and second connectors may be re-fitted with the first and second connectors by moving the third contact portion and the fourth contact portion into the initial space. In the direction, the engagement surface collides with the first contact portion and the second contact portion, and the re-fit is prevented, so that a fitting prevention mechanism is obtained.

  According to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, the first fitting control means includes a third direction that is a direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, and the second direction. A fitting prevention mechanism having an end face parallel to a plane defined by

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, a fitting prevention mechanism can be obtained in which the center region of the collision surface is the position of the collision.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, the first connector includes first direction restricting means, the second connector includes second direction restricting means, The one direction restricting means and the second direction restricting means cooperate to obtain a fitting prevention mechanism that restricts the moving direction of the first fitting control means to only the first direction.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, at the time of the fitting, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are arranged on one straight line extending in the second direction. A fitting prevention mechanism is obtained.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, the first connector has a first contact group, and the second connector has a second contact group for contacting the first contact group. Even when attempting to re-fit, the contact between the first contact group and the second contact group is prevented by the collision of the collision surface with the third contact part and the fourth contact part. As described above, a fitting prevention mechanism in which the collision surface and the third and fourth contact portions are arranged is obtained.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the above-described fitting prevention mechanism, a fitting prevention mechanism in which the second fitting control means is integrally formed of an elastic body can be obtained.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is obtained a connector device including any one of the above-described fitting prevention mechanisms.

  According to the present invention, when the first connector is removed from the second connector, the contact portion moves to the space where the first fitting control means was originally located. Since the fitting control means collides with the third and fourth contact portions, re-fitting is prevented.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, the fitting prevention mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  As can be understood from FIGS. 1 to 5, the fitting prevention mechanism according to the present embodiment includes a connector 1 and a connector 2.

  The main body of the connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 is made of an insulating material and includes a metal contact group (not shown). The connector 1 in the present embodiment has an open end that opens in the X direction to receive the connector 2, and the protrusion 10 extends in the X direction from the vicinity of the center in the Z direction of the inner back surface 14 of the connector 1. It is growing.

  The protrusion 10 has a substantially rectangular cross section defined by a thickness T1 and a length L2. In the present embodiment, the length L <b> 2 is determined such that the end face 13 in the X direction of the protrusion 10 does not go outside the opening end of the connector 1. The upper surface 11 and the lower surface 12 in the Z direction of the protrusion 10 are parallel to the XY plane, and the end surface 13 is parallel to the YZ plane. The center of the end surface 13 is located at the center between the inner surface 17 and the inner surface 18 in the Z direction.

  A connector 2 shown in FIG. 2 is a connector that can be fitted to and removed from the connector 1, and includes a main body 30 made of an insulating material and an elastic body 20. Similar to the connector 1, the connector 2 includes a contact group (not shown). In addition, the connector 2 has an open end that opens in the X direction to receive the protrusion 10 of the connector 1.

  The elastic body 20 is formed by bending a metal piece or the like so that the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 2 is a substantially isosceles triangle shape. It is stored in. A portion corresponding to the base of the isosceles triangle of the elastic body 20 is fixed to the inner back surface 25. On the other hand, the portions corresponding to the other two sides of the substantially isosceles triangle extend toward the opening end of the connector 2 and once contacted (or closest to each other) at the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22. After that, each further extends so as to be away from each other toward the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24 that constitute the tip of the elastic body 20. That is, the vicinity of the tip of the elastic body 20 is open in the Z direction. The contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24 in the present embodiment are separated by a distance T2 in the Z direction. The distance T2 is smaller than the thickness T1 of the protrusion 10 (T2 <T1). An intermediate point between the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 in the present embodiment is located at the center in the Z direction in the connector 2. Here, considering a straight line passing through the midpoint between the contact part 21 and the contact part 22 and parallel to the X direction, the shape of the cross section of the elastic body 20 is symmetric with respect to this straight line.

  In the elastic body 20 in the present embodiment, the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 can be displaced only in the Z direction, and the movement of the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 in the Z direction and the contact portion. 23 and the movement of the contact portion 24 in the Z direction are configured to be interlocked with each other. As understood from this, the part connecting the contact part 21 and the contact part 23 and the part connecting the contact part 22 and the contact part 24 are the contact part 21 and the contact part, respectively. It functions as a transmission means for transmitting the movement of 22 to the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24. The abutting portion 23 and the abutting portion 24 are located at a distance from the inner back surface 25 by a length L4 in the X direction. The length L4 in the present embodiment is determined so that the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24 do not go out of the open end.

  The elastic body 20 tries to maintain the cross-sectional shape shown in the drawing by its restoring force. That is, when the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 are separated from each other in the Z direction, the elastic body 20 tries to bring them closer together. As described above, the elastic body 20 in the present embodiment biases the contact portion 21 toward the contact portion 22 while biasing the contact portion 22 toward the contact portion 21. Functions as a means.

  As can be understood from FIGS. 1 to 3, the distance L3 between the outer surface 27 and the outer surface 28 of the connector 2 is slightly smaller than the distance L1 between the inner surface 17 and the inner surface 18 of the connector 1. Short but almost identical. Accordingly, the connector 2 is restricted from moving in the Z direction inside the connector 1 and can move only in the X direction. Therefore, the moving direction of the protrusion 10 is also limited to the X direction only. Thus, the inner side surface 17 and the inner side surface 18, and the outer side surface 27 and the outer side surface 28 function as direction regulating means that regulates the movement direction of the protrusion 10 only in the X direction.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the fitting state. Here, a space occupied by the protrusion 10 in the connector 2 in the fitted state is referred to as an initial space. In the fitted state, the vicinity of the tip of the elastic body 20 opens in the Z direction, and the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 are spaced apart from each other by the same distance from the intermediate point between the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22. And the protrusion 10 is inserted therebetween. In this state, the contact portion 21 is in contact with the upper surface 11, and the contact portion 22 is in contact with the lower surface 12. At this time, the contact part 21 and the contact part 22 are located on a straight line extending in the Z direction. In this way, the protrusion 10 is held by the elastic body 20. Further, in this fitted state, the front end portion 26 of the connector 2 is in contact with the inner back portion 14 of the connector 1, and the contact group of the connector 1 and the contact group of the connector 2 are connected to each other.

  In the fitting state of FIG. 3, the abutting portion 21 and the abutting portion 22 of the elastic body 20 are opened by using an auxiliary tool (not shown) as in an embodiment described later so as to be fitted. Thereafter, the connector 1 and the connector 2 are fitted together to obtain the fitted state shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the time of removal. When the connector 1 is removed from the connector 2, the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 22 move into the initial space, and accordingly, the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24 move into the initial space. Thereby, the elastic body 20 returns to a state as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a case where the connector 1 and the connector 2 are removed and then re-fitted. When the connector 1 is re-fitted to the connector 2, as described above, the protrusion 10 can move only in the X direction, so the central region (impact surface 15) of the end surface 13 is the contact portion 23 and the contact portion. Collide with 24. Therefore, the protrusion 10 cannot return to the initial space, and as a result, the re-engagement between the connector 1 and the connector 2 is prevented. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the distance T2 between the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24 is smaller than the thickness T1 of the protrusion portion 10, the contact portion 23, the contact portion 24, and the end surface 13 collide with each other. The elastic body 20 never opens. In the present embodiment, the length L2 of the protrusion 10 and the length L4 of the elastic body 20 are such that the contacts do not contact each other when the collision surface 15 collides with the contact portion 23 and the contact portion 24. It is stipulated in. Therefore, in the present embodiment, electrical connection due to re-fitting of the connector 1 and the connector 2 can be reliably prevented.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the present embodiment more specifically explains the point that the connector 1 a and the connector 2 a are brought into a fitted state using the auxiliary tool 40. Since the structure of the connector 1a and the connector 2a is common in many respects to the structure of the connector 1 and the connector 2 according to the first embodiment described above, description of the common parts will be omitted below. Mention only the differences.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, holes 1a1 and 1a2 are formed above and below the protrusions on the back surface of the connector 1a according to the present embodiment, respectively.

  On the other hand, the elastic body 20a of the connector 2a in the present embodiment passes through an intermediate point between the contact portion 21a and the contact portion 22a and extends in the X direction, similarly to the elastic body 20 of the connector 2 according to the first embodiment. Assuming a parallel straight line, the first embodiment has a shape that is symmetrical with respect to the straight line, but the tip of the elastic body 20a of the connector 2a has a substantially V-shaped appearance. Unlike the tip end portion of the elastic body 20 of the connector 2 according to the above configuration, it has a substantially U-shaped appearance. More specifically, the elastic body 20a includes a contact portion 23a and a contact portion 24a that extend away from the contact portion 21a and the contact portion 22a in the Z direction, and a contact portion 23a and the contact portion 24a. A collision release part 27a and a collision release part 28a extending toward the opening end of the connector 2a along the X direction are provided. The distance T2a between the collision release portion 27a and the collision release portion 28a is larger than the thickness T1a of the protrusion 10a of the connector 1a (T2a> T1a).

  As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the auxiliary tool 40 according to the present embodiment has an upper release portion 41 and a lower release portion 42 each having a U-shaped cross section with respect to a straight line extending in the X direction. It is arranged so as to be a target.

  In order to release the fitting prevention state as shown in FIG. 6 and shift to the fitting state, first, the upper release portion 41 and the lower release portion 42 of the auxiliary tool 40 from the holes 1a1 and 1a2 of the connector 1a. Are inserted into the connectors 1a, the tip portion 43 of the upper release portion 41 is positioned between the upper surface 11a of the projection 10a and the collision release portion 27a, and the lower portion 12a of the projection 10a is placed between the lower surface 12a and the collision release portion 28a. The front end portion 44 of the side release portion 42 is positioned. In this state, when a force is applied to the rear end portion 45 of the upper release portion 41 and the rear end portion 46 of the lower release portion 42 so as to bring them closer to each other in the Z direction, the upper release portion 41 causes the portion 47 to move. It rotates slightly counterclockwise around the center, and the lower release portion 42 rotates slightly clockwise around the part 48. As a result of this operation, the front end portion 43 of the upper release portion 41 and the front end portion 44 of the lower release portion 42 are separated from each other in the Z direction by the collision release portion 27a and the collision release portion 28a. Thereby, the contact part 21a and the contact part 22a are also separated in the Z direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, when the distance between the contact portion 21a and the contact portion 22a becomes larger than the thickness T1a of the protrusion 10a, the connector 2a can be pushed into the connector 1a. Thus, when it pushes in until the front-end part 26a of the connector 2a contact | abuts to the inner back surface 14a of the connector 1a, a fitting state as shown in FIG. 9 can be formed.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the auxiliary tool 70 is used to bring the connector 1 and the connector 2 b into a fitted state. Since the structure of the connector 1 and the connector 2b is common in many respects to the structure of the connector 1 and the connector 2 according to the first embodiment described above, description of the common parts will be omitted below. Mention only the differences.

  The connector in the present embodiment is the same as the connector 1 used in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the connector 2b is the elastic body used in the first and second embodiments, that is, the whole body, that is, the main body, the elastic piece 60, and the elastic piece 61 are integrally formed of an insulating material such as resin. Instead of these, an elastic piece 60 and an elastic piece 61 are provided. Moreover, the hole 40b is provided in the connector 2b back surface part.

  The elastic piece 60 and the elastic piece 61 extend from the upper and lower sides of the hole 40b of the inner back surface 25b toward the diagonally downward direction and the diagonally upward direction, respectively, and contact with each other at the contact part 21b and the contact part 22b. It extends to the contact part 23b and the contact part 24b in the direction of the opening end of the connector 2b. Also in the present embodiment, the intermediate point between the contact portion 21b and the contact portion 22b is located at the center in the Z direction in the connector 2b. Further, the elastic piece 60 and the elastic piece 61 are arranged so as to be symmetric with respect to the straight line, assuming a straight line passing through the intermediate point and parallel to the X direction.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the auxiliary tool 70 according to the present embodiment has a U-shaped tip, and has a thickness T2b in the Z direction. The thickness T2b is larger than the thickness T1 of the protrusion 10 (T2b> T1). The auxiliary tool 70 has a shoulder 73 that can collide with the outer back surface 29b at a distance L3b from the tip. The distance L3b is such that when the shoulder 73 comes into contact with the outer back surface 29b, the upper surface 71 and the lower surface 72 come into contact with the contact portion 21b and the contact portion 22b, and the contact portion 23b and the contact portion 24b move in the Z direction. Assuming a straight line tied to, the tip of the auxiliary tool 70 is determined not to exceed the straight line.

  In order to release the fitting prevention state as shown in FIG. 10 and shift to the fitting state, first, the auxiliary tool 70 is inserted from the hole 40b of the connector 2b, and the shoulder 73 is the outer back surface 29b of the connector 2b. Push until it touches. Thereby, the distance between the contact part 21b and the contact part 22b becomes T2b. That is, since the distance between the contact part 21b and the contact part 22b is larger than the thickness T1 of the protrusion 10, the connector 2b can be pushed into the connector 1. Next, when the front end portion 26b of the connector 2b is pushed in until it comes into contact with the inner back surface 14 of the connector 1, a fitting state as shown in FIG. 12 can be formed.

  The auxiliary tool described above becomes unnecessary when the connector 1 and the connector 2 are brought into the fitted state, and may be removed from the connector 1 and the connector 2. The auxiliary tools 40 and 70 in the second and third embodiments described above are both used for the connector 1 or the connector 2, and the configuration of the connector 1 or the connector 2 is designed accordingly. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the second embodiment, holes such as holes 1a1 and 1a2 are provided on the side surface in the Y direction of the connector 1, and an auxiliary tool is inserted therefrom. A state in which the connector 1 and the connector 2 can be fitted may be configured.

  The elastic body 20, the elastic body 20a20a, the elastic piece 60, and the elastic piece 61 are optimally provided one at each end in the Y direction of the connector. .

It is a figure which shows the connector by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other connector by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of the fitting of the connector of FIG. 1 and the connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows a state when the connector of FIG. 1 is extracted from the connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of trying to fit the connector of FIG. 1 to the connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows the connector pair by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state which inserted the auxiliary tool in one side of the connector shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which canceled the fitting prevention state with the auxiliary tool in the connector pair shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of the fitting of the connector shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the connector pair by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state which inserted the auxiliary tool in one side of the connector shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the fitting state of the connector shown by FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a, 2-2b Connector 1a1, 1a2, 40b Hole 10, 10a Projection part 11, 11a Projection part upper surface 12, 12a Projection part lower surface 13, 13a End surface 14, 14a Inner inner surface 15 Collision surface 17, 18 Inner side surface 20 , 20a Elastic body 21-24, 21a-24b, 21b-24b Contact part 25 Inner back face 26-26b Front end part 27, 28 Outer side face 27a, 28a Collision release part 40, 70 Auxiliary tool 41 Upper release part 42 Lower side Release part 43, 44 Front end part 45, 46 Rear end part 60, 61 Elastic piece 71 Upper surface 72 Lower surface

Claims (8)

Second fitting control comprising a first connector having a first fitting control means having a collision face and first and second held faces, and first to fourth contact portions, a biasing means and a transmission means. A fitting prevention mechanism comprising a first connector and a second connector capable of being fitted and removed in a first direction,
The urging means urges the first abutting portion so that the first abutting portion faces the second abutting portion in a second direction that is a direction orthogonal to the first direction, Urging the second contact portion so that the second contact portion is directed toward the first contact portion in the second direction;
The transmission means transmits movement of the first contact portion and the second contact portion in the second direction to the third contact portion and the fourth contact portion, respectively.
At the time of fitting, the first fitting control means occupies the initial space in the second connector, and the first abutting portion is in contact with the first held surface in the second direction. And the second abutting portion abuts against the second held surface,
When the first connector is removed from the second connector, the first contact portion and the second contact portion move into the initial space, and accordingly, the third contact portion and the second contact portion move. When the four contact portions move into the initial space, the collision surface in the first direction causes the third contact portion and the fourth contact to be re-fitted to the first and second connectors. A fitting prevention mechanism characterized in that it collides with a contact portion and prevents the re-fitting. The first fitting control means has an end surface parallel to a plane defined by the third direction and the second direction which are directions orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction. The fitting prevention mechanism according to claim 1. The fitting prevention mechanism according to claim 2, wherein a center region of the collision surface is set as the position of the collision. The first connector includes first direction regulating means;
The second connector includes second direction regulating means;
The first direction restricting means and the second direction restricting means cooperate to limit the moving direction of the first fitting control means to only the first direction. The fitting prevention mechanism as described. 5. The fitting according to claim 1, wherein at the time of the fitting, the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion are arranged on a straight line extending in the second direction. Prevention mechanism. The first connector has a first contact group;
The second connector has a second contact group for contacting the first contact group;
The collision surface is arranged such that contact between the first contact group and the second contact group is prevented by collision of the collision surface with the third contact portion and the fourth contact portion even if the refit is attempted. The fitting prevention mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the third and fourth contact portions are arranged. The fitting prevention mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second fitting control means is integrally formed of an elastic body. A connector device comprising the fitting prevention mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images