JP2013118114A - Jack - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a jack which is reinforced in plug holding force without increasing the number of component nor hindering size reduction of equipment.SOLUTION: There is provided a jack 1 including a housing 10 having a fitting space 19 into which a columnar plug P is inserted, the jack being characterized in that the plug P has a tapered part P3, gradually decreasing in diameter from a tip to a rear, at a head part P1, the jack 1 includes an elastically deformable lock part 20, formed by swelling a part of an inner peripheral surface of the housing 10, integrally with the housing 10, the plug P reaches a regular fitting position by slide contact between its tapered part P3 and the lock part 20 in process of inserting and fitting the plug P into the jack 1, and the lock part 20 presses the plug P at the fitting position in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a jack, and more particularly to a jack with enhanced plug retention.

Due to the miniaturization of portable devices, the connecting terminals used become thinner and the elastic contact force decreases. The demand for strengthening the holding force is increasing due to the increase in the number of connection terminals and the reduction in size and thickness of jacks for fitting and connecting plugs such as earphones used in portable devices.
As a technique for strengthening the holding force, for example, the technique described in Patent Document 1 includes a metal U-shaped lock pin, and this lock pin is elastically contacted with the tapered surface of the plug head, and is connected at an opposite position with the plug interposed therebetween. In cooperation with the terminal, the holding force is applied to the plug at the fitting position by sandwiching the plug head portion.

  Certainly, according to this method, the effect of enhancing the holding force can be obtained. However, since the lock pin is additionally added to the components constituting the jack in addition to the housing and the connection terminal, the number of parts increases, and accordingly, the number of production steps increases and the manufacturing cost increases. Furthermore, there is a possibility of hindering downsizing of the device.

JP2011-165551A

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not hinder the increase in the number of parts, the increase in production man-hours, the increase in manufacturing cost, and the downsizing of the device, and the fitting holding force of the plug. The aim is to provide an enhanced jack.
Yet another object is to provide a connector structure including a jack and a plug with enhanced mating retention force.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the jack of the present invention is (1) a jack having a housing having a fitting space into which a cylindrical plug is inserted, and the plug is directed from the front end to the rear at the top. The jack is provided with an elastically deformable locking portion integrally formed with the housing, and a portion of the inner peripheral surface of the housing is raised, and the plug is inserted into the jack. In the process of fitting, the plug reaches a normal fitting position by sliding contact between the tapered portion and the lock portion, and the lock portion is in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction with respect to the plug at the fitting position. It is characterized in that it is pressed.

According to this invention, the housing which comprises a jack is provided with the lock part for fittingly holding a plug to the internal peripheral surface. The lock part is an elastically deformable part in which a part of the inner peripheral surface of the housing is raised inward (on the inserted plug side). The lock portion elastically contacts the taper portion of the plug at the fitting position, and the taper portion is provided at the plug head portion so that the diameter gradually decreases from the front toward the rear. As a result, the plug in the normal fitting position is held by the jack while receiving a pressure from the lock portion in the taper portion in a direction transverse to the insertion direction. As a result, it is possible to obtain a jack in which the plug in the normal fitting position does not accidentally fall off. Further, since the lock portion is formed integrally with the housing body, it does not increase the number of new parts, and therefore does not increase the number of production steps or the manufacturing cost. Further, the provision of the lock portion does not hinder downsizing.

  The lock portion of the present invention is formed integrally with the housing body. The lock part protrudes inward (inserted plug side) from the inner peripheral surface of the surrounding housing, and presses sideways with respect to the insertion direction by engaging the tapered surface of the plug at the normal fitting position. give. The tapered surface has an ascending gradient with respect to the insertion direction, and the pressing acts on this inclined surface. Thereby, the component force of a press acts on an insertion direction simultaneously with a horizontal direction. In this way, the plug in the normal fitting position is held by the lock portion so as not to come out of the jack.

  The lock portion may be formed such that a part of the inner peripheral surface of the housing is shaped like a cutout piece. The cutout piece may be cut inwardly (in the direction of the inserted plug), or a protruding body is formed on the surface of the cutout piece, and as a result, inwardly (in the direction of the inserted plug). It may be a modestly raised. The lock portion may be rectangular in plan view, and may have a structure in which one side of the rectangle is connected to the housing body and the other three sides are separated from the housing body, and two adjacent sides are separated from the housing body. The remaining two sides may be connected to the housing body.

  The lock portion may have a rectangular shape in plan view, and may have a structure in which the long side of the rectangle is along the axial direction (insertion direction, anti-insertion direction). The direction in which the cut-out piece is turned up may be parallel to the axial direction or may be a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. Alternatively, for example, the two directions may overlap as in the case where two adjacent sides are separated from the housing body. Even in such a case, a jack that holds the plug in the normal fitting position can be obtained.

  Further, the lock portion may have a structure in which a part of the inner peripheral surface of the housing is raised inwardly (on the inserted plug side) so as to rise compared to the surrounding surface. In this case, since the elastic deformation is caused by the rigidity of the synthetic resin forming the housing, it is preferable to keep the scale of the ridge slightly in consideration of the insertion / extraction.

  More preferably, in the jack according to the present invention, (2) the locking portion includes a thinning portion on a back surface, and the thinning portion is provided on at least one side along an insertion direction or a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction. (1) is characterized in that it has an opening communicating with.

  According to the present invention, the lock portion includes the back portion of the back surface and the opening that communicates with the thin portion on at least one side along the insertion direction or the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction. Thereby, it can deform | transform elastically along the horizontal direction (radial direction) orthogonal to an axial direction. As a result, the lock portion elastically presses the plug head portion, so that the plug in the normal fitting position can be held without impairing the insertion / extraction characteristics. Therefore, the jack that holds the plug in the normal fitting position can be obtained without increasing the number of parts, increasing the number of production steps, increasing the manufacturing cost, and preventing the downsizing.

  The lightening portion may have a bag-like hollow structure formed integrally with the housing body. The hollow portion of the hollow structure has a function of a deformation space for elastically deforming the lock portion. For this reason, the thickness of the lightening portion is required to be at least the amount of pushing allowance for the lock portion from the plug. When the lock portion is rectangular in plan view, the thinned portion may be a rectangle having a size corresponding thereto.

Moreover, according to this invention, the lock | rock part is equipped with the opening part in at least one side along the direction orthogonal to an insertion direction or an insertion direction. Thereby, the lock | rock part can take the structure provided with the notch piece which has the opening part connected to the internal thinning part in one side, two sides, or three sides. When two adjacent sides communicate with each other to form an opening, the lock portion is connected to the housing body on the remaining side. In this case, the lock unit operates so that the corners of the notebook open and close. That is, the cutout piece having a substantially triangular shape in front view opens and closes in the front-rear direction. When the three sides communicate with each other to form an opening, the lock portion operates like a leaf spring composed of a fixed end and a free end. Such a notched piece structure is elastically deformable and suitable for pressing the plug. Furthermore, it may be a structure in which only one side is separated from the housing body. In this case, any elastic characteristic can be selected depending on the rigidity of the synthetic resin constituting the lock portion, the thickness of the lock portion, and the like.

  When three adjacent sides communicate with each other to form an opening, the lock portion has a leaf spring shape. The direction in which the free end of the leaf spring extends may be the axial direction or a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Moreover, when the direction where a free end is extended is an axial direction, the insertion port side may be a free end and the anti-insertion port side may be a free end. Even in such a case, a jack that holds the plug in the normal fitting position can be obtained without increasing the number of parts, increasing the number of production steps, increasing the manufacturing cost, and preventing the downsizing. .

  More preferably, the jack according to the present invention is (1) described in (1) or (2), characterized in that a plurality of the lock portions are provided at positions where the plug is gripped.

  Since a plurality of lock portions are provided at the gripping position, the holding force acts stably. As a result, it is possible to obtain a jack that holds the plug in the normal fitting position without increasing the number of parts, increasing the production man-hours, increasing the manufacturing cost, and preventing the downsizing.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a jack according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 3A and 3B are front views of the jack according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is an overall view, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a lock portion. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the appearance of the lock portion of the jack at an angle from obliquely below. FIGS. 5A and 5B are process diagrams showing a process of inserting a plug into the jack, wherein FIG. 5A is a diagram showing that the plug is being inserted, and FIG.

Although embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments, and can be implemented without departing from the spirit of the invention. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a jack according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 3A and 3B are front views of the jack according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is an overall view, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a lock portion. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the appearance of the lock portion of the jack according to the embodiment of the present invention at an angle from obliquely below.
In addition, when the direction is defined so that the indicated direction becomes clear in the description, as shown in FIG. 2, the right hand side is front, the opposite direction is rearward, the upper side is right, and the opposite side is left as viewed in the drawing.

〔housing〕
As shown in FIG. 1, the jack 1 includes a housing 10 formed by injection molding of an insulating synthetic resin, and a connection terminal (not shown) cut out from a conductive metal plate held by the housing 10. As the synthetic resin material, a flexible material such as PBT or nylon is generally used. As the metal plate material, a copper alloy material such as phosphor bronze is widely used in consideration of conductive characteristics, durability, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 10 is a columnar body having a substantially rectangular cross section with a circular perforation having a circular cross section slightly above the center. This perforation is provided with openings 17 and 18 that extend in the front-rear direction along the axis and communicate with the outside at both ends. The housing 10 forms a fitting space 19 (the above-described perforation) into which the plug P is inserted. The housing 10 is surrounded by an upper wall 11, left and right side walls 13, 12, and a lower wall 14 on all four sides. The front and rear surfaces 15 and 16 include openings 17 and 18 communicating with the fitting space 19. A groove for press-fitting and holding the connection terminal is formed along the axial center below the opening 17 of the housing front surface 15. The groove is formed from the vicinity of the opening 17 toward the back (rear) over three steps.
The plug P is inserted from the opening 18 of the rear surface 16, and the leading portion P1 of the plug P reaches the vicinity of the opening 17 of the front surface 15 at the normal fitting position.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fitting space 19 is a column having a circular cross section and has a shape corresponding to the contour of the plug P. That is, the radius of the peripheral surface forming the fitting space 19 having a circular cross section is gradually reduced as it moves from the rear to the front. As a result, the plug P inserted into the fitting space 19 from the opening 18 of the rear surface 16 and reaching the normal fitting position is held in such a manner that its entire peripheral surface is held by the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10. Note that a plurality of connection terminals for connecting to the conductive portion of the plug P are arranged inside the housing 10, but the solder mounting portion is omitted except that the front surface 15 is shown in FIG.

[Upper wall, side wall, lower wall]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper wall 11 is a wall with a curved structure that constitutes the upper portion of the housing 10. The upper wall 11 is connected to the left side wall 13 on the left side and is connected to the right side wall 12 on the right side. On the lower inner side of the left and right side walls 13 and 12, a holding portion for holding a connection terminal (not shown) is provided. The holding part is configured by a groove into which the edge of the fixing part of the connection terminal is press-fitted. The groove has three steps and extends in parallel from the vicinity of the opening 17 of the front surface 15 toward the back (rear). A pair of grooves corresponding to the grooves provided on the left and right side walls 13 and 12 are provided on both side surfaces of the vertical wall located in the middle part of the left and right side walls 13 and 12. The outer surfaces of the left and right side walls 13 and 12 are flat.

  The lower wall 11 is a wall constituting the lower surface of the housing 10. The lower wall of the housing 10 is provided with the vertical wall described above. This vertical wall extends from the opening 17 of the front surface 15 toward the back (backward). In addition, a deformation space necessary for elastically deforming the connection terminal is formed in the lower portion of the housing 10. The outer surfaces of the left and right side walls 13, 12 and the lower wall 14 are flat. The lower wall 14 continues to the left and right side walls 13 and 12 on the left and right sides.

  The left and right side walls 13 and 12 are walls that constitute the left and right side surfaces of the housing 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. The left and right side walls 13 and 12 are provided on the left and right side surfaces and are substantially symmetrical. The inner sides of the left and right side walls 13, 12 constitute a part of the inner peripheral surface that defines the fitting space 19. The left and right side walls 13 and 12 are provided with a lock portion 20 on the inner peripheral surface for holding the plug P in the normal fitting position.

[Lock part]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the lock portion 20 is a rectangular cutout piece that is integrally formed with the housing 10 by injection molding. One lock portion 20 is provided in front of the left and right side walls 13 and 12 of the housing 10 and slightly below. The front side of the lock part 20 includes a vertical opening 23 in a form in which the front ends of the side walls 13 and 12 are cut open and faces the front face 15 opening part 17, while the rear side is continuous with the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10. In addition, the lower side of the lock portion 20 includes a lateral opening 24 having a shape in which the lower ends of the side walls 13 and 12 are cut open, and a part of each of the left and right sides of the inner peripheral surface extending in an arc shape constituting the fitting space 19. It is composed. Further, the upper side of the lock portion 20 is continuous with the inner peripheral surface of the housing.

  The fitting space 19 having a circular cross section communicates with the holding portion of the connection terminal provided in the lower part of the housing 10 and the deformation space of the connection terminal, but the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 constituting the fitting space 19 is plugged. In order to hold P in such a manner as to hold it, an arc longer than a semicircle is drawn (in the present embodiment, an arc of about 270 degrees). The lower side of the lock part 20 constitutes part of the left and right hems of this arc.

  The lock portion 20 has a notch piece structure in which two adjacent sides of the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 are partially cut open. The rectangular lock portion 20 includes a vertical opening 23 cut open at the front side and a horizontal opening 24 cut open at the lower side, and the vertical opening 23 and the horizontal opening 24 are connected at the end thereof. ing. Further, the lock portion 20 includes a hollow portion 22 on the back surface thereof that communicates with the vertical opening portion 23 and the horizontal opening portion 24.

As shown in FIG. 4, one side in the circumferential direction of the lock portion 20 constitutes a part of the left and right hems of the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 and is curved inward with the same curvature as the inner peripheral surface. Since the inner peripheral surface extends downward beyond the semicircular arc, the vertical opening 23 is formed so as to keep the wall thickness of the inner peripheral surface (lock portion 20) constant. Therefore, the vertical opening 23 is a substantially triangular shape when viewed from the front. Hollow thinned portions 22 and 22 are formed between the inner peripheral surface (lock portion 20) and the side walls 13 and 12 of the housing 10.
As shown in FIG. 4, the axial direction of the lock portion 20 is such that one side faces the opening portion 17 of the front surface 15 of the housing 10 and constitutes a part of the front end of the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 that forms the fitting space 19. Yes. The other side is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 at the rear. The lock portion 20 is formed along the axial direction of the plug head portion P1 in the normal fitting position, and the hollow cutout portion 22 extends to the middle of the plug taper portion P3 in the normal fitting position. Yes. Further, the lateral opening 24 is formed in a range corresponding thereto. The lateral opening 24 is a front view rectangle.

  The lock portion 20 is a cutout piece in which two adjacent sides of the rectangle are cut open as described above, and includes a hollow cutout portion 22 on the back surface. Thereby, the lock | rock part 20 can be elastically deformed to the inside / outside direction (radial direction) by making this hollow part 22 into a deformation | transformation space. The structure of the lock portion 20 in which two adjacent sides of the rectangle are connected to the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 is rigid in the lock portion 20 against repeated insertion and removal of the plug P, although the thickness and size are structurally limited. Is effective to maintain. By having such a structure, the lock portion 20 operates elastically so that the corners of the notebook open and close in the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lock portion 20 includes a raised portion 21 on the surface. The raised portion 21 has a rectangular shape in a front view, and has a roof shape with a top portion extending laterally with respect to the insertion direction at the center portion. The raised portion 21 is provided in an intermediate portion in the axial direction of the lock portion 20, and the top portion of the raised portion 21 is engaged with the plug taper portion P <b> 3 with respect to the plug P inserted and in the normal fitting position. This engagement location is at a position slightly rearward of the plug maximum diameter enlarged portion P2. The raised portion 21 has its inclined surface engaged with the plug taper portion P3 and takes a surface contact structure at that time, thereby exerting a strong holding force on the plug P. That is, in order to pull out the plug, it is necessary to deform the lock portion 20 to the extent that it exceeds the maximum diameter enlarged portion P2, and the amount of deformation depends on the engagement position on the tapered surface, the maximum diameter enlarged portion P2, and the height. The amount corresponding to the difference in the direction is also generated, and the deformation process causes a considerable frictional resistance because the contact surface between the raised portion 21 and the tapered portion P3 is slidably moved. Thus, the lock part 20 provided with the raised part 21 can hold | maintain the plug P firmly.

(Mating)
The jack 1 is assembled by press-fitting a metal connection terminal into the insulating housing 10 made of synthetic resin.
The fitting between the plug P and the jack 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 5A and 5B are process diagrams showing a process of inserting a plug into the jack according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a diagram during insertion, and FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the plug P and the jack 1 are fitted into the fitting space 19 through the opening 18 on the rear surface 16 of the jack 1. It is done in a way that pushes it to the end. When the plug P passes around the middle of the fitting space 19, the maximum diameter enlarged portion P <b> 2 of the leading portion P <b> 1 comes into contact with the skirt on the rear side of the raised portion 21 projecting inwardly of the lock portion 20. As the plug P advances further forward from the first contacted position, the maximum diameter enlarged portion P2 approaches the top along the inclined surface of the raised portion 21. In this process, the amount of elastic deformation of the lock portion 20 increases. Thereby, the holding force of the lock part 20 with respect to the plug P becomes large.

  As the plug P advances further forward, the maximum diameter enlarged portion P2 climbs the inclined surface of the raised portion 21 and reaches the top (A). At this time, the amount of elastic deformation of the lock portion 20 is maximized, and the largest force is applied to the plug head portion P1 from the lateral direction. However, this position where the vertices are in contact with each other is unstable, and there may be a case where the equilibrium relationship is shifted and the repulsive force of the lock portion 20 acts in the direction in which the plug P is pulled out. Considering this point, the normal fitting position is a position where the plug P is moved forward a little.

  In the regular fitting position, the maximum diameter-expanded portion P2 is on the front inclined surface beyond the top of the raised portion 21 projecting to the innermost side of the lock portion 20 (B). At the regular fitting position, the taper portion P3 of the plug head portion P1 is on the inclined surface of the raised portion 21 of the lock portion 20, and the surfaces of the tapered portion P3 and the inclined surface are in sliding contact with each other. Thereby, when the plug P is pulled out, resistance friction is generated on the contact surface between the lock portion 20 and the plug P. In addition, since the raised portion of the lock portion 20 is located at the taper portion P3 and presses the plug P in the lateral direction, a part of the pressing force is always in the direction in which the plug P is inserted into the jack 1. It is acting on. As a result, since the plug P is strongly held by the lock portion 20, even when an inadvertent force in the pulling direction is applied, the plug is not easily pulled out from the jack.

〔effect〕
The lock portion is formed integrally with the housing. As a result, it is possible to obtain a jack that firmly holds the plug in the normal fitting position without increasing the number of parts, increasing the number of production steps, and increasing the manufacturing cost.
The lock portion is formed in a fitting space inside the housing. As a result, it is possible to obtain a jack that firmly holds the plug in the normal fitting position without hindering the miniaturization of the jack.
The lock portions are respectively provided on the left and right side walls of the inner peripheral surface of the housing, and sandwich the plug at the normal fitting position from the facing position. As a result, the jack that holds the plug in the normal fitting position more firmly is obtained.
Since the taper portion of the plug head portion is shaped to slide on the inclined surface of the protrusion portion of the lock portion, the plug head portion is in surface contact with the lock portion. As a result, resistance friction is generated on the surface, so that the plug is held by the lock portion.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the inventive idea. For example, in the present embodiment, two lock portions are provided in the housing. However, the number of lock portions may be one, or may be three or more. Even in such a case, the above-described effects can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Jack 10 Housing 11 Upper wall 12, 13 Side wall 14 Lower wall 15 Front wall 16 Rear wall 17, 18 Opening part 19 Fit space 20 Locking part 21 Raised part 22 Thinning part 23 Vertical opening part 24 Horizontal opening part P Plug P1 Top part P2 Maximum diameter expansion part P3 Taper part

Claims (4)

A jack having a housing having a fitting space into which a cylindrical plug is inserted,
The plug includes a tapered portion at the leading end that gradually decreases in diameter from the tip toward the rear,
The jack includes an elastically deformable lock part integrally formed with the housing, and a part of the inner peripheral surface of the housing is raised.
In the process of inserting and fitting the plug into the jack, the plug reaches a normal fitting position by sliding contact between the tapered portion and the lock portion, and the lock portion is attached to the plug at the fitting position. A jack having a feature in that a pressure is applied in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction.   The lock part is characterized in that a back side is provided with a lightening part and an opening part is provided on at least one side along the insertion direction or a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction. The jack according to claim 1.   The jack according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of the lock portions are provided at positions where the plug is gripped.   A connector structure comprising the jack according to claim 1 and a plug.

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