JP2514994Y2 - Stage insertion / extraction type connector - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector for making an electrical connection, and more particularly, to forming at least one of a male side contact and a female side contact in a plurality of different lengths, and connecting each contact in a predetermined order. The present invention relates to a step insertion / extraction type connector equipped with a multi-step insertion / extraction mechanism that enables insertion / removal and forcibly setting a time difference between connection and insulation for contacts of each length necessary to protect electronic device elements. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to electrically protect an element of an electronic device, at least two sets of contacts having different effective contact lengths are provided, and these contacts can be connected in a predetermined connection order. A so-called sequential connector, which is a stepwise insertion / removal type connector, capable of obtaining the conduction order of is known. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional sequential connector of this type. As shown in the figure, this sequential connector has two types of male contacts 2 and 2'having different lengths on the male connector 1 side. The corresponding female contacts 4 on the female connector 3 side are all the same length, so that when the male connector 1 and the female connector 3 are inserted, each male contact 2, 2 '
Are connected in order from the longest one, and there is a difference in conduction time corresponding to the difference in length. This time difference also works effectively when the male connector 1 and the female connector 3 are pulled out. In the figure, 5 is a lock spring, and 6 is a locking projection, and the male connector 1 and the female connector 3 are fixed by the engagement of both after the male connector 1 and the female connector 3 are completely inserted.

[0003]

In such a conventional sequential connector, it is possible to obtain a desired conduction sequence for protecting the elements of the electronic device by the time difference between the connection of the contacts, but with the male connector. Since insertion and withdrawal with the female connector are generally performed manually, the insertion force and the withdrawal force with respect to these are different depending on the person, and therefore the time required for insertion and withdrawal also varies. If this time is too short, it may not be possible to sufficiently secure the time difference between the connection and the insulation required to obtain electrical protection. To eliminate these fears,
Simply increasing the difference in the lengths of the contacts only enlarges the dimensions of the connector and is not an effective means.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the connector body in a sequential connector capable of obtaining a desired connection sequence of contacts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector having a novel structure capable of sufficiently securing a time difference between connection and insulation of each contactor without enlarging it.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, when inserting and removing a male connector and a female connector, contacts having different lengths are sequentially connected and insulated. (EN) Provided is a stepwise insertion / extraction type connector having a multistage insertion / extraction mechanism capable of securing a time difference between connection and insulation by temporarily stopping the insertion / extraction operation in the meantime and forcing an operation other than the insertion / extraction operation.

That is, the stepwise insertion / removal type connector provided by the present invention comprises a male connector and a female connector, each having a contactor and connected to each other, and at least one of the male side contactor and the female side contactor. In a step insertion / removal type connector in which a plurality of different lengths are formed and each contact is inserted and withdrawn in a predetermined order, an engaging member installed in either the male connector or the female connector and the engaging member. One of the male connector and the female connector is movably arranged corresponding to the member, and the corresponding contactors of the male contactor and the female contactor are sequentially inserted and connected. Between the male side contact and the female side contact to temporarily stop the insertion / withdrawal movement of the male side contact and the female side contact by moving the engaging means and the engaging means while moving and engaging with each other. To release the engagement with the engaging member. Releasing means that is characterized in that provided with the city.

[0007]

The contacts having different lengths are connected in order from the longest effective contact length at the time of insertion and insulated from the shortest effective contact length at the time of withdrawal. At this time, during the connection or insulation between the contactor of one effective contact length group and the contactor of the next effective contact length group, the locking means engages with the engaging member to connect the male contactor and the female contactor. By temporarily stopping the relative movement with the side contactor, a time difference in connection or insulation is forcedly produced. As a result, a predetermined time difference is given after connecting or insulating a pair of contacts having a certain effective contact length, and then the releasing means moves the locking means to release the engagement, so that the next effective contact length It is possible to carry out the connection or insulation of the set of contacts.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a step-insertion type connector 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The stepwise insertion / removal type connector 10 is a pin type sequential connector including a male connector 12 and a female connector 14 each having two sets of contact groups having different effective contact lengths. The male connector 12 includes two types of male contacts 16 and 1 having different lengths.
6 '(hereinafter, referred to as plugs 16 and 16'). The female connector 14 includes a female contactor 18 (hereinafter, referred to as a jack 18) having the same length that can be connected to each of the plugs 16 and 16 '.
That).

The male connector 12 has plate spring-shaped lock springs 20 arranged at both outer ends of the plugs 16 and 16 'arranged in line. The lock spring 20 is provided with a locking claw 22 at one end and a push button 24 at the other end, and is fixed to the casing 12a of the male connector 12 at a substantially intermediate position 20a. In this state, the locking claw 22 of the lock spring 20
Is projected from the connecting end surface 12b of the male connector 12, and the push button 24 is projected laterally of the casing 12a of the male connector 12. When the push button 24 is pushed inward of the casing 12a, the lock spring 20 rotates about the intermediate position 20a as a fulcrum, and the locking claw 22 moves outward (in the direction of the arrow in the drawing).

The female connectors 14 are located at both outer ends of the jacks 18 which are aligned and the lock springs 2 of the male connector 12.
Engaging protrusions 26 are arranged at positions facing 0, respectively. The engagement protrusion 26 is formed on the connection end surface 14 of the female connector 14.
It projects from b and engages with the locking claw 22 of the lock spring 20. The engaging projection 26 is formed in an F shape as shown in the drawing, and both the bent portion 26a at the tip and the protruding portion 26b at the center can be engaged with the locking claw 22 and the bent portion 26a.
The outer surface of the can contact the locking claw 22.

The operation of inserting and withdrawing the stepwise insertion / removal type connector 10 thus constructed will be described with reference to FIG. First, the male connector 12 and the female connector 14 are connected with their respective connection end faces 12b and 14b facing each other. At this time, in this embodiment, the engaging claw 22 and the engaging projection 26 of the lock spring 20 projecting from the respective connection end surfaces 12b and 14b.
The sum of the protruding lengths of and is the long plug 16 and jack 18
Shorter plug 16 that is smaller than the sum of the same protruding lengths as
′ And the jack 18 are set to be larger than the sum of similar protruding lengths, and thus, as shown in FIG.
Bending portion 2 of locking claw 22 of locking spring 20 and engaging projection 26
When they abut with each other, only the long plug 16 is connected to the jack 18 and the short plug 16 'is not connected. Then, next, when the push button 24 of the lock spring 20 is pushed inward of the casing 12a of the male connector 12,
The locking claw 22 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and rides over the bent portion 26a of the engaging projection 26 (FIG. 2 (b)). Further, when the male connector 12 and the female connector 14 are pressed in the mutual direction, the short plug 16 ′ is inserted and connected to the jack 18. At this time, the locking claw 22 crosses over the tapered portion of the projection 26b of the engagement projection 26 and engages with the projection 26b, and the male connector 12 and the female connector 14 are fixed by this engagement in the state where the connection is completed. (FIG. 2 (c)). At the time of withdrawal, first, the push button 24 of the lock spring 20 is slightly pressed to release the engagement between the locking claw 22 and the protrusion 26b of the engagement protrusion 26, and the short plug 16 'is pulled out from the jack 18. At this time, the locking claw 22 engages with the bent portion 26a of the engaging projection 26, and the pulling-out operation is temporarily stopped. Then, the push button 24 is deeply pressed to release this engagement, and the long plug 16 is pulled out from the jack 18.

The structure of the lock spring 20 and the engaging projection 26 of the step-insertion type connector 10 described above is similar to the structure of the lock spring 5 and the locking projection 6 in the conventional sequential connector, but the present invention is not limited to this. By setting the relationship between the protrusion lengths of the two to the above-described unique relationship, the initial purpose is to be achieved. In the stepwise insertion / removal type connector 10 described above, when the male / female connector 12 and the female connector 14 are inserted / removed, when the worker inadvertently inserts / pulls the portion of the pushbutton 24, the pushbutton 24 is pressed and When the pawl 22 is placed in the release position from the beginning, the effect of grading the insertion / removal operation may not be obtained in some cases. A second embodiment of the present invention for eliminating such a fear will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The step insertion / extraction type connector 30 shown in FIG.
Similar to the first embodiment, it comprises a male connector 32 and a female connector 34 each provided with two sets of contact groups having different effective contact lengths. The male connector 32 has two types of plugs 36, 36 having different lengths. ', And the female connector 34 has a plug 3
6 and 36 'are provided with jacks 38 of the same length which can be connected.

The male connector 32 is located at both outer ends of the plugs 36, 36 'which are aligned with each other, and the lock spring 20 of FIG.
Lock springs 4 having different lengths and having the same shape as
0 and 42 are arranged. Each of the lock springs 40 and 42 has a locking claw 44 at one end and a push button 46 at the other end. In this state, the locking claws 44 of the lock springs 40 and 42 project from the connecting end surface 32b of the male connector 32 by the same length, and therefore the respective push buttons 46 project to different positions laterally of the male connector 32. Lock spring 4
In both 0 and 42, when the push button 46 is pressed, the locking claw 44 moves outward (in the direction of the arrow in the drawing).

The female connectors 34 are provided at both outer ends of the jacks 38 aligned with each other and the lock springs 4 of the male connector 32.
The engaging protrusions 48,
50 are arranged. The engagement protrusions 48 and 50 have different lengths from the connection end surface 34b of the female connector 34, that is, the engagement protrusion 50 disposed on the outside protrudes longer and engages with the engagement claws 44 of the lock springs 40 and 42, respectively. To do. The engaging protrusions 48 and 50 are both formed in an L shape as shown in the drawing,
The bent portions 48a and 50a at the tip end are capable of abutting and engaging with the locking claw 44.

The insertion and withdrawal operations of the stepwise insertion / removal type connector 30 thus constructed will be described with reference to FIG. First, the male connector 32 and the female connector 34 are inserted into each other. At this time, in this embodiment, the locking claws 4 of the lock spring 42 projecting from the respective connection end surfaces 32b and 34b.
4 and the engaging projection 50, the sum of the protruding lengths of the long plug 3
6 and jack 38, the sum of protrusion lengths of the locking claw 44 of the lock spring 40 and the engagement protrusion 48 is set to be larger than the same sum of protrusion lengths of the jack 36 and the jack 38. It is set to be smaller than the sum of the similar protruding lengths of the plug 38 'and larger than the sum of the similar protruding lengths of the short plug 36' and the jack 38. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4A, the locking claws 44 of the lock spring 42 arranged on the outer side are provided.
When the and the bent portion 50a of the engaging projection 50 contact each other, neither of the plugs 36 and 36 'is connected to the jack 38. Then, when the push button 46 of the lock spring 42 is pushed in, the locking claw 44 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 to get over the bent portion 50a of the engaging projection 50, and the long plug 36 and the jack 38 are connected. (FIG. 4 (b)). When the insertion operation is further continued, the locking claw 44 of the inner lock spring 40 is
Comes into contact with the bent portion 48a of the engaging projection 48, the insertion operation is temporarily stopped, and only the long plug 36 is connected to the jack 38 (FIG. 4 (c)). Therefore, next, the lock spring 40
When the push button 46 is pressed, the locking claw 44 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. (FIG.4 (d)). At this time, the locking claw 44
Is locked to the bent portion 48a of the engaging protrusion 48, and the male connector 32 and the female connector 34 are fixed by this locking in the state where the connection is completed. At the time of withdrawal, by performing the above operation in reverse, it is possible to perform stepwise withdrawal.

In this way, the above-mentioned stepwise insertion / removal type connector 3
0 is provided with two lock springs and the push button 46 is connected to the male connector 3
Since the male connector 32 and the female connector 34 are inserted / removed when the operator inadvertently grips one of the pushbuttons 46 while inserting / removing the male connector 32 and the female connector 34, one of the two positions is used. The locking claw comes into contact with the engaging projection, and the above-described stepwise operation is forced. At this time, it is almost impossible to assume that the operator holds all the push buttons and inserts and removes them.

The step-insertion type connector 30 shown in FIG.
It is possible to deal with a sequential connector having two or more sets of contacts having different effective contact lengths by slightly modifying it. That is, in this case, a plurality of protrusions are formed on the engaging protrusions 48, 50 in parallel with the bent portions 48a, 50a at predetermined intervals, and the lock spring is connected each time contacts having different lengths are connected or insulated. 40, 42
The locking claws 44 alternately contact or engage these protrusions to stop the inserting / removing operation. As a result, the operation of alternately pressing the two push buttons 46 at the time of insertion / removal is forced, and a desired time difference is obtained during the connection or insulation of the contacts having different lengths.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the female connector 14 of the step-insertion type connector 10 of FIG.
Is provided, and two fitting holes 54 and 56 are formed at both end positions of the guide frame 52. On the other hand,
The locking claw 22 of the lock spring 20 of the male connector 12 is projected to the side of the male connector 12 so that it can be fitted into the fitting holes 54 and 56. With this configuration, when the male connector 12 and the female connector 14 are inserted, when the long plug 16 is connected to the jack 18, the locking claw 22 of the lock spring 20 fits into the outer fitting hole 54. The insertion operation is stopped. Then, the push button 24 is pressed to release the fitting, and the short plug 16 ′ is connected to the jack 18. In this way, the engagement of the locking claw 22 and the fitting hole 54 makes it possible to perform the staged insertion / removal operation similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the male contacts and the female contacts of different sets having different lengths are sequentially inserted and connected, and are insulated. While the locking means and the engaging member are engaged with each other, the insertion and withdrawal movements of the male side contact and the female side contact are temporarily stopped, and the releasing means further releases this engagement. Since the configuration is such that insertion and removal are performed, a predetermined time difference is secured between the connection or insulation of the contacts of each set having different effective contact lengths, and electrical protection of the elements of the electric device can be reliably obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional front view of a step-insertion type connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of an inserting operation of the stepwise insertion / extraction type connector of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional front view of a step-insertion type connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an insertion operation of the stepwise insertion / removal type connector of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional front view of a step-insertion type connector according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional front view of a conventional stepwise insertion / extraction type connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 30 ... Step insertion / removal type connector 12, 32 ... Male connector 14, 34 ... Female connector 16, 16 ', 36, 36' ... Plug 18, 38 ... Jack 20, 40, 42 ... Lock spring 22, 44 ... Locking Claws 24, 46 ... Push buttons 26, 48, 50 ... Engaging projections 52 ... Guide frame

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A male connector and a female connector, each of which has a contactor and are connected to each other, are provided, and at least one of the male-side contactor and the female-side contactor is formed to have a plurality of different lengths, and a predetermined length is provided. In a stepwise insertion / removal type connector for inserting and withdrawing each contact in order, an engaging member installed in either the male connector or the female connector, and the male connector and the female connector corresponding to the engaging member. Movably disposed in any one of the above, while each of the corresponding contactors of the male contactor and the female contactor are sequentially inserted and connected, and while being insulated by pulling out, A locking unit that engages with the engaging member to temporarily stop the insertion / removal movement of the male contact and the female contact, and moves the locking unit to engage with the engaging member. And a releasing means for releasing. Formula connector.