JP2012190706A - Connector device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a connector cover hard to come off from a connector.SOLUTION: A flexible locking piece 54 having a locking hole 55 on the base end side is provided at a connector cover 50 in a protrusive manner. When the connector cover is mounted on or removed from a connector body 10A, the locking piece is bent by sliding on the tip side of the locking piece, thereby providing an engagement projection 15 engaged with or disengaged from the locking hole at the connector body 10A. The length of the tip side of the locking piece 54 is set so that the tip side gets into an arm 22 of a lever 20, and the bending for disengagement of the locking piece is regulated by covering the tip side of the locking piece with the lever.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector device in which a connector cover for restricting the direction of electric wire is attached to a lever-type connector.

  A connector device in which a connector cover is mounted on the rear part of a connector is known, for example, in Patent Document 1. The connector cover in this case is mainly provided for the purpose of guiding and leading out in a predetermined direction while protecting a plurality of electric wires drawn from the rear part of the connector.

  The connector cover used for this type of purpose is detachably attached to the connector by engaging a locking portion provided on the connector housing with a locking portion on the connector cover side. For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the connector cover is connected to the connector housing by engaging the engaging portions provided on both sides of the connector cover with the engaging portions provided on both sides of the connector housing. It is attached to.

JP-A-10-27645

  By the way, when the length of the connector cover becomes longer due to vehicle layout conditions or the like, the distance from the engaging portion with respect to the connector housing located at the front portion of the connector cover to the rear end of the connector cover increases, so that the electric wire is pulled. For example, when an external force is applied to the rear end of the connector cover, a large force may act on the engaging portion by the lever principle. Therefore, a large holding force is required for the engaging portion between the connector housing and the connector cover, but the engaging portion cannot be increased due to space reasons, and a sufficient holding force can be secured. It can be difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector device that can be prevented from coming off even when a force is applied to the connector cover so as to come off the connector. .

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.
(1) A connector main body in which an electric wire is pulled out from the rear and a mating connector is fitted from the front;
When the connector main body is attached to the connector main body and the connector main body and the mating connector are mated or released, the connector main body and the mating connector are fitted and mated by being rotated. A lever to release,
A connector cover having a wire lead-out portion that is attached to the rear portion of the connector main body and leads out the electric wire drawn out from the rear portion of the connector main body in a predetermined direction;
With
A pre-fitting standby position where the lever waits before fitting the connector main body and the mating connector, and an operation position during fitting which is located when the connector main body and the mating connector are fitted. When the connector body is mated with the mating connector, the connector body and the mating connector are initially mated with the mating operation position from the standby position before mating. Until the connector body is mated with the mating connector, and from the fully mated state to the standby position before mating in the reverse direction. It is a connector device configured to release the main fitting between the connector body and the mating connector by being operated dynamically,
The connector cover is provided with a flexible locking piece having a locking hole on the base end side,
When attaching or removing the connector cover to or from the connector body, the locking piece is bent by sliding with the distal end side of the locking piece, thereby engaging with the locking hole or A locking projection for releasing the engagement is provided,
A connector device, wherein the lever is provided with a bending restricting portion for restricting the bending for releasing the engagement of the locking piece by covering the locking piece.

(2) In the connector device according to (1) above,
A wide wire lead-out portion is provided in the left-right direction at the rear portion of the housing of the connector main body, and a plurality of the locking projections are provided on the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion so as to be separated from each other in the left-right direction,
When the connector cover is attached to the connector main body at the front portion of the connector cover, a plurality of the locking projections corresponding to the locking protrusions are slid along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion. A piece protrudes forward,
When the connector cover is attached to the connector main body at the front portion of the connector cover, the connector cover is positioned in the left-right direction or the vertical direction with respect to the connector main body by fitting with the outer surface of the wire lead-out portion. The mating wall to perform is protruding,
On the other hand, the lever includes a pair of arms that slide along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion of the housing of the connector main body and a connecting portion that connects the ends of the pair of arms when rotating. No shape,
The connector device, wherein the leading end side of the locking piece is inserted into a gap inside the arm that functions as the bending restricting portion to restrict the bending for releasing the engagement.

  According to the connector device having the configuration (1), the bending of the locking piece of the connector cover can be restricted by the bending restriction portion of the lever. Therefore, when the locking hole of the locking piece of the connector cover and the locking projection of the connector main body are engaged with each other, the bending of the locking piece is restricted to thereby It is possible to prevent the connector from coming off and to prevent inadvertent removal of the connector cover.

  According to the connector device having the configuration of (2) above, a plurality of locking projections or locking pieces that engage with each other in the left-right direction of the wide wire lead-out portion are provided, and the connector cover is positioned in the left-right direction or the up-down direction. Since the fitting wall is provided and the distal end of the locking piece is inserted into the gap inside the pair of arms of the lever, it is possible to firmly prevent the connector cover and the connector body from being disengaged.

  According to the present invention, for example, even when a force in the cover removal direction is applied to the connector cover from the electric wire, the cover can be securely held so as not to be removed.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the connector apparatus of embodiment of this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the state before attaching a connector cover to a lever-type connector. It is a perspective view which shows the state which mounted | wore the lever type connector with the same connector cover. When the lever of the lever type connector is rotated from the standby position before mating to the operation position during mating (the mating connector is not shown, but is mated with the mating connector), the connector cover It is a perspective view for an operation explanation when external force acts on the tip of an electric wire extraction part. (A) is a top view at the time of the state of FIG. 3, (b) is IVb-IVb arrow sectional drawing of (a), (c) is an enlarged view of the IVc part of (b). FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 for comparing the operation with the connector device of the embodiment, wherein (a) is a plan view of a comparative example, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line Vb-Vb of (a), c) is an enlarged view of the Vc portion of (b).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a connector device according to an embodiment, and is a perspective view showing a state before the connector cover is attached to the lever-type connector, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the connector cover is attached to the lever-type connector. FIG. 3 shows a state where the lever of the lever-type connector is rotated from the standby position before mating to the operation position during mating (the mating connector is not shown but is mated with the mating connector). FIG. 4A is a perspective view for explaining the action when an external force acts on the tip of the wire lead-out portion of the connector cover, FIG. 4A is a plan view in the state of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is an arrow IVb-IVb in FIG. Sectional view, (c) is an enlarged view of the IVc part of (b).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the connector device 1 has a connector cover 50 attached to the rear portion of the lever-type connector 10. The lever-type connector 10 includes a connector main body 10A configured by inserting a plurality of terminals with electric wires (not shown) from the rear into the connector housing 11, and a lever 20 attached to the outside of the connector main body 10A so as to be rotatable. It consists of and.

  The connector body 10 </ b> A is to be mated with a mating connector (not shown) from the front, and an electric wire (not shown) is drawn from a wide wire lead-out portion 12 in the left-right direction of the rear portion of the connector housing 11. The lever 20 is attached to the outside of the connector housing 11 and is rotated when the connector main body 10A and the mating connector are mated or released, so that the connector main body 10A and the mating connector are mated. The lever connector can be easily engaged and released from the side connector with a smaller force.

  The lever 20 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pre-fitting standby position that waits before fitting the connector main body 10A and the mating connector, and as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. The connector body 10 </ b> A and the mating connector can be rotated between a fitting operation position that is located when the mating connector is fitted. When the connector main body 10A is mated with the mating connector, the lever 20 is shown in FIG. 3 from the standby position before mating shown in FIG. 2 with the connector main body 10A and the mating connector initially mated. The connector body 10A and the mating connector can be finally fitted by rotating the operation position as shown by an arrow B to the operation position at the time of fitting. The main fitting between the connector main body 10A and the mating connector can be released by rotating in the reverse direction from the fitting operation position shown in FIG. 2 to the standby position before fitting shown in FIG. Yes.

  On the other hand, the connector cover 50 is a curved fitting that fits into the four corners of the wire lead-out portion 12 of the housing 11 of the connector main body 10A on the front portion of the cylindrical cover main body portion 51 corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the connector main body 10A. In addition to having a wall 51 and a bag-like cover wall 52 at the rear, a wire drawn from the wire lead-out portion 12 at the rear of the connector main body 10A is led out to the side on one side of the cover wall 52. It has a wire lead-out portion 53 to be used. The electric wire lead-out part 53 is configured as a bowl-like one that extends long in the electric wire lead-out direction. Therefore, by attaching the cover main body 50A to the rear part of the connector main body 10A, it is possible to regulate the direction in which the wires are routed.

  A plurality of locking projections 15 are provided on the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion 12 at the rear portion of the connector housing 11 so as to be separated in the left-right direction. Further, a flexible tongue-like locking piece 54 having a locking hole 55 on the base end side is provided between the curved fitting wall 51 at the front portion of the cover main body 50 </ b> A. Projections are provided corresponding to the stop projections 15, respectively. Each locking piece 54 in this case protrudes forward so as to slide along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion 12 when the connector cover 50 is attached to the connector main body 10A. When the cover main body 50A is attached to the connector main body 10A or when the cover main body 50A is removed from the connector main body 10A, the locking protrusion 54 slides on the distal end side of the locking piece 54 so that the locking piece 54 is moved in the vertical direction. So that the locking hole 55 and the locking projection 15 are engaged or disengaged with each other.

  When the connector cover 50 is attached to the connector main body 10A, the curved fitting wall 51 is fitted in the four corners of the wire lead-out portion 12 so that the connector cover 50 is positioned in the left-right direction or the vertical direction with respect to the connector main body 10A. The slit 51C is divided into an upper / lower detachment prevention wall 51A and a left / right positioning wall 51B. That is, the detachment prevention wall 51 </ b> A abuts the upper and lower outer surfaces of the four corners of the wire lead-out portion 12, thereby regulating the vertical position of the connector cover 50, and Prevent disengagement. Further, the positioning wall 51B is in contact with the left and right outer surfaces of the four corners of the wire lead-out portion 12, thereby restricting the position of the connector cover 50 in the left-right direction and engaging the locking hole 55 and the locking projection 15. It works to relieve the lateral force acting on the joint.

  By the way, the lever 20 has a left side (first direction) when viewed from the front as shown in the figure and a right side (second direction) (not shown) opposite to the connector main body 10A according to the direction of the electric wire. ) And can be attached alternatively. Similarly, the connector cover 50 is also attached to the connector main body 10A in a posture in which the wire lead-out portion 53 faces the right side when the lever 20 is attached to the left side (first direction) in the drawing, and the lever 20 is attached to the right side (not shown). When attached in the (second direction), the wire lead-out portion 53 is attached to the connector main body 10A in a posture facing the left side. That is, the lever 20 and the connector cover 50 can be selectively attached to the left side and the right side.

  The lever 20 includes a pair of plate-like arms 22 that slide along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion 12 of the connector housing 11 and a connecting portion 23 that connects one end of the pair of arms 22 when rotating. When the connector 23 is pivotally mounted on the connector housing 11 by a fulcrum (not shown) set on the pair of arms 22 and attached in the direction shown (left side), the connecting portion 23 is When the connector housing 11 is located on the left side of the connector housing 11 and mounted in the opposite direction (right side), the connecting portion 23 is located on the right side of the connector housing 11.

  A lock provided on the inner surface of the connecting portion 23 of the lever 20 when the lever 20 is rotated to the operating position when fitted with the lever 20 attached to the left side of the figure. In a state where the left lever locking portion 13 (not shown) that engages with the protrusion (not shown) and locks the lever 20 to the operation position when fitted, and the lever 20 is attached to the right side opposite to the drawing. When the lever 20 is rotated to the operation position when fitted, the lever 20 engages with a lock protrusion (not shown) provided on the inner surface of the connecting portion 23 of the lever 20 to lock the lever 20 to the operation position when fitted. A right lever locking portion 13 is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the plate-like arm 22 of the lever 20 covers the locking piece 54 engaged with the locking projection 15 when the connector cover 50 is attached to the connector main body 10A. It functions as a bending restricting portion that restricts the bending of the locking piece 54. That is, the front end side of the locking piece 54 in a state in which the locking hole 55 is engaged with the locking projection 15 is inserted into the gap inside the arm 22 that functions as a bending restricting portion. Deflection for release is restricted.

  Next, the assembly procedure of the connector device 1 and the procedure until the connector device 1 is mated with the mating connector will be described.

  First, the connector cover 50 is mounted by moving the connector cover 50 as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1 to the wire lead-out portion 12 of the connector housing 11 of the connector main body 10A to which the lever 20 is assembled in advance. That is, in a state where the locking piece 54 of the cover body 50A is inserted into the inner surface side of the upper and lower arms 22 of the lever 20 first, the locking hole 55 provided in the locking piece 54 is formed in the locking projection 15 on the connector housing 11 side. Engage (see FIG. 2). The direction in which the connector cover 50 is attached to the housing 11 of the connector main body 10A is set so that when the lever 20 is attached to the left side as shown in the example, the wire lead-out portion 53 is positioned on the right side. On the contrary, when it is attached to the right side, the electric wire outlet 53 is set to be positioned on the left side. At this stage, the lever 20 is positioned at the pre-fitting standby position.

  In such a stage before connector fitting, since the arm 22 of the lever 20 in the standby position before fitting is in a position covering the locking piece 54 of the connector cover 50, the bending of the locking piece 54 is restricted. Can do. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the engagement between the engagement hole 55 and the engagement protrusion 15 and to prevent the connector cover 50 from being inadvertently disconnected.

  Next, when the connector device 1 is fitted to the mating connector, the lever 20 is moved as shown in FIG. 2 with the mating connector housing and the housing 11 of the connector body 10A of the connector device 1 initially fitted. Rotate in the direction of arrow B. Then, the connector body 10 </ b> A and the mating connector can be fully fitted by the action of the lever 20. At the stage where the main fitting is established, the lock protrusion inside the connecting portion 23 of the lever 20 is engaged with the lever locking portion 13 on the side surface of the connector housing 11, and the lever 20 is held in that position.

  Also at this stage, as shown in FIG. 4C, the arm 22 of the lever 20 covers the locking piece 54 of the connector cover 50, so that the bending of the locking piece 54 can be restricted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the engagement between the engagement hole 55 and the engagement protrusion 15 and to prevent the connector cover 50 from being inadvertently disconnected.

  That is, when the length of the connector cover 50 is increased as in the present embodiment, the engaging portion (the engagement piece 54 and the engagement protrusion 15 between the engagement piece 54 and the engagement protrusion 15 is located on the front portion of the connector cover 50. Since the distance from the engagement portion) to the rear end of the connector cover 50 (the front end of the wire lead-out portion 53) is increased, when an external force C is applied to the rear end of the connector cover 53 by pulling the wire, Although a large force acts on the engaging portion according to this principle, a holding force that can sufficiently counter the force can be secured, and the disengagement can be reliably suppressed.

  In this case, a plurality of locking projections 15 or locking pieces 54 are provided in the left-right direction of the wide wire lead-out portion 12, and a fitting wall 51 for positioning in the left-right direction or the up-down direction is provided on the connector cover 50. Since the distal end of the locking piece 54 is inserted into the gap inside the pair of arms 22 of 20, the disengagement between the connector cover 50 and the connector main body 10A can be prevented firmly.

  Incidentally, as in the comparative example shown in FIG. 5, when the length of the tip of the locking piece 54 is short and the tip does not enter the inside of the arm 22 of the lever 20, the locking piece 54 is free to move freely. Since it can bend now, there is a possibility that the engagement is disengaged when a large external force is applied.

  Further, when releasing the fitting between the connector 1 and the mating connector from such a fitting state, the lever 20 is rotated in the reverse direction. Then, due to the action of the lever 20, the connector main body 10 </ b> A moves in a direction away from the mating connector and the main fitting is released.

  As described above, according to the connector device 1, for example, a load that causes the connector cover 50 to disengage the locking protrusion 15 and the locking hole 55 when the electric wire is pulled backward or in the vertical direction. Even when it is applied, the holding force can be secured. Such an external force is likely to act during transportation of the wire harness before connector fitting or during connector fitting work, but the engagement between the locking projection 15 and the locking hole 55 is not released before the connector is fitted. As described above, since the bending restriction of the locking piece 54 is performed by the lever 20, it is possible to ensure the prevention of the connector cover 50 from coming off. Similarly, after the connector is fitted, since the bending of the locking piece 54 is restricted by the lever 20, there is no fear that the connector cover 50 is easily detached due to a load from the electric wire.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector apparatus 10 Lever type connector 10A Connector main body 11 Connector housing 12 Electric wire extraction part 15 Locking protrusion 20 Lever 22 Arm (flexure control part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Connector cover 50A Cover main body 53 Electric wire extraction part 54 Locking piece 55 Locking hole

Claims (2)

A connector body in which the electric wire is drawn out from the rear and the mating connector is fitted from the front;
When the connector main body is attached to the connector main body and the connector main body and the mating connector are mated or released, the connector main body and the mating connector are fitted and mated by being rotated. A lever to release,
A connector cover having a wire lead-out portion that is attached to the rear portion of the connector main body and leads out the electric wire drawn out from the rear portion of the connector main body in a predetermined direction;
With
A pre-fitting standby position where the lever waits before fitting the connector main body and the mating connector, and an operation position during fitting which is located when the connector main body and the mating connector are fitted. When the connector body is mated with the mating connector, the connector body and the mating connector are initially mated with the mating operation position from the standby position before mating. Until the connector body is mated with the mating connector, and from the fully mated state to the standby position before mating in the reverse direction. It is a connector device configured to release the main fitting between the connector body and the mating connector by being operated dynamically,
The connector cover is provided with a flexible locking piece having a locking hole on the base end side,
When attaching or removing the connector cover to or from the connector body, the locking piece is bent by sliding with the distal end side of the locking piece, thereby engaging with the locking hole or A locking projection for releasing the engagement is provided,
A connector device, wherein the lever is provided with a bending restricting portion for restricting the bending for releasing the engagement of the locking piece by covering the locking piece. A wide wire lead-out portion is provided in the left-right direction at the rear portion of the housing of the connector main body, and a plurality of the locking projections are provided on the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion so as to be separated from each other in the left-right direction,
When the connector cover is attached to the connector main body at the front portion of the connector cover, a plurality of the locking projections corresponding to the locking protrusions are slid along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion. A piece protrudes forward,
When the connector cover is attached to the connector main body at the front portion of the connector cover, the connector cover is positioned in the left-right direction or the vertical direction with respect to the connector main body by fitting with the outer surface of the wire lead-out portion. The mating wall to perform is protruding,
On the other hand, the lever includes a pair of arms that slide along the upper and lower outer surfaces of the wire lead-out portion of the housing of the connector main body and a connecting portion that connects the ends of the pair of arms when rotating. No shape,
The leading end side of the locking piece is inserted into a gap inside the arm that functions as the bending restricting portion, so that bending for disengaging is restricted. Connector device.

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