JP2012138177A - Connector with lever - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector with a lever capable of achieving height reduction.SOLUTION: In a connector with a lever that reduces fitting operation force using cam action by lever operation, a housing 11 is provided with a plurality of terminal housing chambers 12,13 for housing a terminal fitting, and a lever housing chamber 19 for housing the lever 40 is installed at the same hight as the height of a portion of the terminal housing chambers 13 among the terminal housing chambers 12,13. This configuration can achieve height reduction of a connector 10 compared to the case when the lever housing chamber 19 is installed outside the housing 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector with a lever.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a connector with a lever that uses a cam action by lever operation to reduce the fitting operation force. For example, in the connector with lever described in Patent Document 1, a lever housing chamber for housing the lever is provided outside the housing for housing the terminal fitting, and the lever is assembled along the outer surface of the housing.

JP 2008-71527 A

  In the connector with a lever having the above-described configuration, the height of the connector has to be increased by providing the lever housing chamber, and it has been difficult to reduce the height.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector with a lever that can be reduced in height.

The connector with a lever of the present invention is a connector with a lever that uses a cam action by lever operation to reduce the fitting operation force, and the housing is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating terminal fittings, A lever accommodating chamber for accommodating the lever is provided at the same height position as a part of the terminal accommodating chambers.
According to such a configuration, the height of the connector can be reduced compared to the case where the lever accommodating chamber is provided outside the housing.

The terminal fitting includes a short terminal for short-circuiting a plurality of terminal fittings, and the lever accommodating chamber is provided at the same height as the short terminal accommodating chamber accommodating the short terminal, and the short The terminal accommodating chamber is provided at a position close to the mating surface side with the counterpart in the housing, and the lever accommodating chamber is provided at a position near the mating surface side in the housing. It is good as it is.
According to such a configuration, a dead space behind the short terminal accommodating chamber can be used, and the height of the connector can be reduced while minimizing the width dimension of the connector.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector with a lever which can be reduced in height can be provided.

The perspective view which shows the state in which it is the connector in this embodiment, and the lever was hold | maintained in the initial position. Top view of the connector with the lever held in the initial position Front view of the connector with the lever held in the initial position FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the connector, corresponding to the cross-section at the position AA in FIG. A perspective view of the connector in a state where the lever is held at the mating completion position. Front view of the connector with the lever held in the mated position FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the connector in a state where the lever is held at the fitting completion position, and is a cross-sectional view corresponding to a cross-section at the BB position in FIG. Front view of female housing with lever and retainer removed FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the female housing with the lever and retainer removed, and a cross-sectional view corresponding to the cross-section at the CC position in FIG. 8. Partially cutaway perspective view of the connector showing a state where the lever is housed in the lever housing chamber Partially cutaway plan view of the connector showing a state in which the lever is housed in the lever housing chamber Cross section of board connector

<Embodiment>
Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The connector 10 according to the present embodiment is a connector with a lever that uses a cam action by lever operation to reduce a fitting operation force, and is fitted with a board connector 50 (a counterpart) connected to a board. The airbag circuit is configured. Hereinafter, in each component member, the fitting surface side of both connectors 10 and 50 will be described as the front, the opposite side as the rear, and the upper side in FIG. 1 as the upper side and the lower side as the lower side.

  The board connector 50 is a so-called male connector, which is a housing made of synthetic resin (referred to as a male housing 51) and a plurality of terminal fittings (male terminal fittings 52) attached to the male housing 51. (Refer to FIG. 12).

  The male housing 51 includes a hood portion 53 having an open front surface, and the connector 10 is fitted into the hood portion 53. A plurality of male terminal fittings 52 bent in an L shape are attached to the male housing 51 in a state in which the tip portions protrude into the hood portion 53.

  The male housing 51 is provided with a short-circuit releasing portion 54 that protrudes into the hood portion 53 to cancel the short-circuit state of the female-side terminal fitting, which will be described later, in the process of fitting both the connectors 10 and 50. . The short-circuit releasing unit 54 is provided at a position corresponding to the short terminal housing chamber 13 of the female housing 11.

  A cylindrical cam pin 55 is formed on the upper wall of the hood 53 so as to protrude downward (toward the internal space of the hood 53). The cam pin 55 is provided at a position closer to the front end than the center in the front-rear direction of the hood portion 53.

The connector 10 is a so-called female connector 10 and includes a housing made of synthetic resin (referred to as a female housing 11) and a plurality of terminal fittings.
The terminal fitting includes a female terminal fitting (not shown) that can be connected to the male terminal fitting 52 and a short terminal 30 that short-circuits the female terminal fitting. The female terminal fitting has a substantially cylindrical shape and a main body connected to the male terminal fitting 52 and a barrel connected to the end of the electric wire connected in the front-rear direction.

  The short terminal 30 is formed by punching a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and bending it. As shown in FIG. 4, the short terminal 30 is folded back from the base portion 31 and the rear end of the base portion 31 to the front. A pair of extending elastic contact pieces 32 is provided. The short terminal 30 is much smaller in length (about half) than the female terminal fitting, and its entire length is the same as or slightly smaller than the main body of the female terminal fitting.

  The base portion 31 is formed with a metal lance 33 that is locked to an engaging portion 16 described later. The metal lance 33 has a cantilever shape that rises little by little toward the rear, and is locked to the engagement portion 16 from the front.

  The pair of elastic contact pieces 32 are provided at intervals corresponding to the arrangement of the pair of female terminal fittings that are short-circuited by the short terminal 30. The elastic contact piece 32 has a cantilever shape and extends forward, and is elastically deformable in the vertical direction with a connection portion (rear end portion) with the base portion 31 as a fulcrum. A portion closer to the front end of each elastic contact piece 32 is bent into a mountain shape protruding downward to form a contact portion 34 that contacts the female terminal fitting. This contact portion 34 elastically contacts the main body of the female terminal fitting before the connectors 10 and 50 are fitted together to short-circuit the female terminal fitting so that both connectors 10 and 50 are properly fitted. When the state is reached, it is pushed upward by the short-circuit releasing portion 54 of the male housing 51 and is separated from the female terminal fitting.

  The female housing 11 has a block shape that can be fitted to the hood portion 53 of the board connector 50, and has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 12 and 13 into which terminal fittings can be inserted from the rear. And provided side by side in the width direction. Of the outer wall of the female housing 11, the upper portion is the upper wall 11A, the lower portion is the lower wall 11B, the two portions are the side walls 11C, and the front portion is the front wall. This is referred to as the front wall 11D.

  The rear end portion of the upper wall 11A of the female housing 11 is a stepped portion 14 having a wall thickness dimension larger than the other portions and protruding upward (see FIG. 1). The step portion 14 is provided with a lock piece 15 for locking a lever 40 (to be described later) in a fitted state. The lock piece 15 protrudes in a cantilevered manner from one end in the width direction of the stepped portion 14, and a housing-side protrusion that engages with a lever-side protrusion 47 provided on the lever 40 described later on the upper surface thereof. 15A is provided.

The terminal accommodating chambers 12 and 13 are a female terminal accommodating chamber 12 that accommodates a female terminal fitting and a short terminal accommodating chamber 13 that accommodates a short terminal 30.
As shown in FIG. 3, the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 is arranged so as to deviate in height from the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 located next to the female side housing 11 in the width direction, and the short terminals arranged as such. The female terminal accommodating chamber 12 is provided so as to fill the space between the accommodating chambers 13.

  Of all the terminal accommodating chambers 12 and 13 arranged in a plurality of stages, only the female terminal accommodating chamber 12 is arranged in the width direction at the lowest level (this is referred to as the lowest female terminal accommodating chamber 12A). . Among the lowermost female terminal accommodating chambers 12A, there are two shorts above the two chambers arranged side by side in the width direction of the female housing 11 and the two chambers arranged side by side in the center in the width direction. A terminal accommodating chamber 13 (referred to as a lowermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13A) is provided. Two female terminal accommodating chambers 12 (referred to as middle female terminal accommodating chambers 12B) are provided side by side at a position between the lowermost short terminal accommodating chambers 13A. A storage chamber 13 (referred to as a middle short terminal storage chamber 13B) is provided. Two female terminal accommodating chambers 12 (referred to as uppermost female terminal accommodating chambers 12C) are provided side by side at positions on both outer sides of the middle-stage short terminal accommodating chamber 13B. A terminal accommodating chamber 13 (referred to as the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13C) is provided. The uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13 </ b> C is positioned at the uppermost of all the terminal accommodating chambers 12, 13. Further, the lowermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13A and the middle female terminal accommodating chamber 12B, and the middle short terminal accommodating chamber 13B and the uppermost female terminal accommodating chamber 12C are provided at substantially the same height.

  The short terminal accommodating chamber 13 has an opening width that extends over two adjacent female terminal accommodating chambers 12 and is formed in communication with the two female terminal accommodating chambers 12. Each short terminal accommodating chamber 13 is provided with an engaging portion 16 in which a metal lance 33 of the short terminal 30 can be engaged, and the engaging portion 16 projects downward from the upper surface of the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 (FIG. 4). In a state in which the short terminal 30 is accommodated in the short terminal accommodating chamber 13, the pair of elastic contact pieces 32 respectively enter the female terminal accommodating chamber 12 and elastically contact the female terminal fittings inserted therein. Short-circuit both female terminal fittings. The short terminal 30 is pushed into the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 from the rear side of the female housing 11 at a stage before the lever 40 described later is mounted on the female housing 11.

  The short terminal accommodating chamber 13 is provided at the front end of the female housing 11. The short terminal accommodating chamber 13 is formed in accordance with the size of the short terminal 30, and the dimension in the front-rear direction is slightly smaller than approximately half of the dimension in the front-rear direction of the female housing 11.

  A resin lance 17 that is primarily engaged with the female terminal fitting is provided on the lower surface side of the female terminal housing chamber 12, and a retainer 18 that is secondarily engaged with the female terminal fitting is attached to the female housing 11. ing. The female terminal fitting is double-locked by these and is prevented from coming off. The retainer 18 is attached to the lower surface side of the female housing 11 and is locked to the main body of all female terminal fittings from the rear. The retainer 18 is attached to a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction of the female housing 11.

  The female housing 11 is provided with a lever housing chamber 19 for housing the lever 40 (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The lever accommodating chamber 19 is provided at the same height as the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13C (a part of the terminal accommodating chambers) of the terminal accommodating chambers 12 and 13 (see FIG. 7).

  The uppermost short terminal accommodating chambers 13 </ b> C are disposed at both ends (both corners of the front end) of the female housing 11 in the width direction. The uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13 </ b> C is surrounded by the side wall 11 </ b> C and the front wall 11 </ b> D of the female housing 11. An inner wall 24 is provided on the inner side.

  The lever housing chamber 19 is provided at a position close to the rear side (opposite side of the fitting surface side) of the female housing 11, and the lever 40 is located slightly before the approximate center in the front-rear direction of the female housing 11. From the rear end to the rear end. The lever housing chamber 19 is surrounded by the upper wall 11A, the side wall 11C and the front wall 11D of the female housing 11 and the bottom wall 19A. A part (front end corner) of the bottom wall 19A partitions the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13C and the uppermost female terminal accommodating chamber 12C, and the other portion is the uppermost female terminal accommodating chamber 12C or The middle stage short terminal accommodating chamber 13B and the lever accommodating chamber 19 are partitioned. The upper surface of the bottom wall 19A is substantially flat as a whole.

  The female housing 11 is formed with a receiving path 21 that receives the cam pin 55 of the male housing 51. The receiving path 21 opens from the front wall 11D to the upper wall 11A and extends linearly in the front-rear direction. The rear end of the receiving path 21 reaches a position closer to the rear end than the center in the front-rear direction of the female housing 11 (a position immediately before the stepped portion 14).

  The bottom wall 19A of the lever accommodating chamber 19 is provided with a locking piece 22 for holding the lever 40 in the initial position (see FIG. 9). The locking piece 22 has a cantilever shape extending forward, and a locking projection 22A protruding upward is provided at the free end thereof. The locking piece 22 is formed at a substantially central position in the front-rear direction of the female-side housing 11 (above the mounting position of the retainer 18), and is positioned directly below the receiving path 21 in the bottom wall 19A.

  In addition, a support shaft 23 serving as a central axis of the rotation operation of the lever 40 is provided on the bottom wall 19A of the lever housing chamber 19 so as to protrude upward (see FIG. 8). The support shaft 23 is located at the approximate center in the width direction of the female housing 11 and behind the locking piece 22.

  The lever 40 is a rotary type, is made of a synthetic resin, has a flat plate-like cam plate portion 41, and has a horizontal plate shape as a whole. The thickness dimension of the cam plate portion 41 is the thickness dimension of the short terminal 30, specifically, the vertical direction of the parallel portion (the portion excluding the contact portion 34) of the base portion 31 and the elastic contact piece 32 of the short terminal 30. The dimensions are equivalent (see FIG. 7). The lever 40 installed in the lever accommodating chamber 19 is arranged along the upper surface of the bottom wall 19A of the lever accommodating chamber 19, and is sandwiched between the upper wall 11A and the bottom wall 19A with a slight clearance. Become. As shown in FIG. 11, the lever 40 is disposed substantially rearwardly from the short terminal 30, and an operation unit 46 described later protrudes rearward from the female housing 11.

  A substantially circular bearing hole 42 into which the support shaft 23 is fitted, and the support shaft 23 are allowed to enter from the end edge of the cam plate portion 41 to the bearing hole 42 at the approximate center of the lower surface of the cam plate portion 41. An assembling groove 43 is recessed.

  On the upper surface of the cam plate portion 41, a cam groove 44 that engages with the cam pin 55 of the board connector 50 is formed. The cam groove 44 is a recess extending inward from the edge of the cam plate portion 41, and when the lever 40 is in the initial position, the inlet 44 </ b> A of the cam groove 44 is positioned below the receiving path 21 of the female housing 11. In addition, the cam pin 55 can be received in the cam groove 44.

  On the inlet 44A side of the cam groove 44, there is provided a locking hole 45 for locking the locking projection 22A of the female housing 11 when the lever 40 is in the initial position (see FIG. 11). The locking hole 45 has a rectangular shape and penetrates the bottom of the cam groove 44 in the vertical direction. When the locking protrusion 22A is locked in the locking hole 45, the lever 40 is restricted from rotating from the initial position to the fitting completion position side (clockwise in FIG. 11), and is held at the initial position. The

  The lever 40 is provided with an operation unit 46 that is operated by applying a finger when the lever 40 is rotated. As shown in FIG. 5, the operation portion 46 has an opening through which the lock piece 15 can be inserted between the operation plate 46 and a substantially gate shape protruding upward from the cam plate portion 41.

  The lever 40 is provided with a lever-side protrusion 47 that engages with the housing-side protrusion 15A of the lock piece 15 (see FIG. 7). The lever-side protrusion 47 is formed on the operation portion 46, and specifically, protrudes downward from a spanning portion 46 </ b> A facing the cam plate portion 41 of the operation portion 46. When the rotation operation of the lever 40 is completed, the span 46A is positioned above the lock piece 15 and the housing side protrusion 15A and the lever side protrusion 47 engage with each other, so that the lever 40 is restricted and held. Is done. A deflection allowing recess 48 for allowing the elastic deformation of the lock piece 15 is formed in a portion of the cam plate 41 facing the span 46A of the operation portion 46.

  The lever 40 is housed by being pushed into the lever housing chamber 19 from behind. Specifically, the lever 40 is leveled, the cam plate portion 41 is inserted into the lever accommodating chamber 19 while the assembly groove 43 is aligned with the support shaft 23, and the support shaft 23 and the bearing hole 42 are fitted. Then, the lever 40 is rotated to the initial position, and the locking projection 22A and the locking hole 45 are fitted. Thereby, the rotation to the fitting completion position side of the lever 40 is regulated, and the assembly of the lever 40 to the female housing 11 is completed.

Next, the fitting operation of both connectors 10 and 50 will be described.
First, the connector 10 is shallowly fitted into the hood portion 53 of the board connector 50. Then, the cam pin 55 enters the inlet 44A of the cam groove 44, pushes the locking projection 22A downward, and releases the locking with the locking hole 45. Thereby, the turning operation of the lever 40 is allowed. Here, since the cam pin 55 is provided at a position on the front side of the conventional one, even if the inlet 44A of the cam groove 44 is located on the rear side of the conventional one, the cam pin 55 is inserted into the cam groove with the same fitting amount. 44 can be fitted.

  Next, when the operating portion 46 of the lever 40 is pressed and the lever 40 is turned to the mating completion position side, both the connectors 10 and 50 are pulled toward each other by the cam action due to the engagement between the cam pin 55 and the cam groove 44. The female housing 11 is fitted to the hood 53.

  In this fitting process, each short-circuit releasing portion 54 enters each short terminal accommodating chamber 13 and abuts on the elastic contact piece 32 of each short terminal 30 to elastically deform it upward. Thereby, the elastic contact piece 32 is separated from the female terminal fitting, and the short circuit state between the female terminal fittings is released.

  Further, when the lever 40 approaches the fitting completion position (that is, both the connectors 10 and 50 approach the normal fitting state), the housing side protrusion 15A and the lever side protrusion 47 come into contact with each other, and the lock piece 15 is moved downward. Deforms and deforms.

  As soon as the lever 40 reaches the fitting completion position, the lock piece 15 is restored, the housing-side protrusion 15A and the lever-side protrusion 47 are engaged, and the lever 40 is locked. , 50 are held in a normal fitting state.

  When the connectors 10 and 50 are detached from the above-mentioned fitted state, the locking piece 15 is pressed downward to release the locking, and the operation unit 46 is pulled as it is to engage the lever 40 during the fitting operation. Rotate in the opposite direction. Then, as the lever 40 rotates, the cam pin 55 displaces the cam groove 44 toward the inlet side and the connectors 10 and 50 are separated from each other. The lever 40 eventually reaches the initial position, and the cam pin 55 comes off the cam groove 44. Both connectors 10 and 50 are detached.

According to the present embodiment configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
The connector 10 of the present embodiment is a connector with a lever that uses a cam action by lever operation to reduce the fitting operation force. The female housing 11 includes a terminal housing chamber 12 for housing terminal fittings, 13 is provided, and a lever accommodating chamber 19 for accommodating the lever 40 is provided at the same height position as the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13C in the terminal accommodating chambers 12 and 13. Thereby, compared with the case where a lever accommodating chamber is provided in the outer side of a housing like the past, the connector 10 can be made low-profile.

  The uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13 </ b> C is provided at a position close to the mating surface side with the board connector 50 in the female housing 11, and the lever accommodating chamber 19 is fitted in the female housing 11. It is provided at a position close to the side opposite to the surface side. Thereby, since the dead space behind the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 can be used, the height of the connector 10 can be reduced while making the width dimension as small as possible.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13 </ b> C is provided at a position near the front side of the female housing 11, and the lever accommodating chamber 19 is at a position near the rear side of the female housing 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber and the lever accommodating chamber may be provided at positions aligned in the width direction of the female housing.
(2) In the above embodiment, the lever accommodating chamber 19 is provided at the same height as the short terminal accommodating chamber 13, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, the lever accommodating chamber is provided at the same height as the female terminal accommodating chamber. May be.
(3) In the above embodiment, the short terminal 30 is elastically contacted with the female terminal metal fitting to short-circuit the female terminal metal fitting before the connectors 10 and 50 are fitted together. When it reaches the regular fitting state, it is a terminal that is separated from the female terminal fitting, but not limited to this, for example, the short terminal is provided in one connector, and only when it is fitted with the other connector, The terminal etc. which short-circuit a pair of terminal with which this other connector was equipped may be sufficient.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the lever housing chamber 19 is provided on the upper surface side of the female housing 11, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the lever housing chamber may be provided on the lower surface side of the female housing.
(5) The arrangement and the number of chambers of the short terminal accommodating chamber 13 and the female terminal accommodating chamber 12 are not limited to the arrangement and the number of chambers shown in the above embodiment, and may be any arrangement and number of chambers. May be provided only where necessary.
(6) In the above embodiment, the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber 13C is provided at both corners of the front end of the female housing 11, but the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber is not limited to this, You may provide only in a corner | angular part. Further, the uppermost short terminal accommodating chamber may be disposed over the central portion in the width direction of the female housing, or the lever accommodating chamber may be provided at a position immediately behind them.

10 ... Connector 11 ... Female housing (housing)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12, 13 ... Terminal accommodating chamber 13 ... Short terminal accommodating chamber 19 ... Lever accommodating chamber 30 ... Short terminal 40 ... Lever

Claims (2)

A connector with a lever that uses a cam action by lever operation to reduce the fitting operation force,
The housing is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating terminal fittings, and a lever accommodating chamber for accommodating the lever at the same height as a part of the terminal accommodating chambers in the terminal accommodating chamber. With connector. The terminal fitting includes a short terminal that short-circuits a plurality of terminal fittings,
The lever accommodating chamber is provided at the same height as the short terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating the short terminal,
The short terminal accommodating chamber is provided at a position close to the mating surface side with the counterpart in the housing,
The lever-equipped connector according to claim 1, wherein the lever accommodating chamber is provided at a position on the opposite side of the housing from the fitting surface side.

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