JP2736473B2 - Latch for electrical connector housing - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a latch device for an electrical connector housing that mates with the electrical connector.

[Conventional technology]

Certain electrical connector housings are formed of a plastic material mold, and the connector housing is mated and secured when mating (female and male) connectors are mated. At this time, the electrical contact arrays in a large number of rows are fitted to make an electrical connection. Some of these connectors use a separate piece of hardware to make the housings fit together, but preferably have latching means integral with the housing. One-piece latch arms are well known. In such a known device, a pair of latch arms are provided extending forward from opposite sides of one housing of the connector, and when both connectors are moved to a mated state,
Latches with corresponding latch surfaces on the housing of the other connector.

U.S. Patent No.
No. 4,867,700. This latch arm
It has a deformable rear portion for releasing the latch of the latch arm when it is desired to release the mated connector and separate it. In this case, the latch arm is said to be hingedly engaged with the housing.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Since the above-described latch arms are stressed and torqued during mating (latch) and unmating (unlatching) of the connector, the hinge joint must be robust and capable of withstanding multiple latch / unlatch cycles. . In particular, when the hinge joint is made of a plastic mold, it is generally weakened according to the use period and when subjected to a temperature cycle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hinged connection for a latch arm of a connector housing that withstands stresses and torques and has flexibility for a number of deformation cycles of the latch arm.

[Means for solving the problem]

A latch for an electrical connector housing according to the present invention includes a pair of legs extending outward from near upper and lower ends of a side surface of an insulating housing, and a bite portion coupled to the pair of legs and separated from the side surface of the insulating housing. And a hinge joint having at least a horizontal rib portion extending in the front-rear direction on the outer surface of the cutting tool portion, and extending substantially in the front-rear direction and having a substantially central portion connected to the horizontal rib portion of the hinge joint and near the front end. And a latch arm having a latch release portion formed near the rear end.

The present invention is a hinge connection for joining a latch arm to an outer surface of a plastic connector housing, wherein the latch arm extends forward from the hinge joint to a front end latch means and latches into a corresponding latch means of the mating connector housing. It is configured to engage.
On the other hand, the grip portion extends rearward from the hinge joint to the deformable portion and releases the latch of the front latch means for releasing the latch of the connector. The latch arms are typically used as opposing pairs provided on opposing sides of the housing. Each hinge joint defines a vertical hinge axis and is deformable outward from the side of the housing corresponding to the front arm portion, and a corresponding portion of the mating connector housing is provided in front of each corresponding latch means before or during latch release. Get over. In response, the rear latch is deformable inward about the vertical hinge axis, causing the front arm to move outward. Therefore, the pair of grip portions of the latch arm pair are grasped by a person and brought closer to each other to release the latch between the two connectors.

The hinge joint of each latch arm has a pair of vertically spaced legs extending a short distance outward from the side of the housing to the bite, the bite being united with each leg and extending outward from the side of the housing. Separated, each leg is a substantially thin web having approximately horizontal front / rear dimensions. Integrally coupled to the approximate center of the latch arm extending between and outwardly spaced from the vertical bite portion is a rib portion having at least a horizontal rib component, preferably an intersecting horizontal defining a cross-shaped rib intersection. And a vertical component. The legs add flexibility to the cutting tool and allow it to deform slightly about the hinge axis, thereby allowing the latch arm to deform sufficiently to latch and unlatch. The horizontal rib component deforms slightly elastically to deform the center of the cutting tool between the spaced legs.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B show a pair of insulating (dielectric) housings 10, 70 for an electrical connector assembly. The housings 10, 70 are molded with a plastic material such as polyester containing glass. These two housings 10, 70 are shaped and dimensioned such that the front plug portion 12 of the housing 10 is inserted into the corresponding large cavity 72 of the housing 70, and the fitting surface 14 of the housing 10 has a reduced size of the cavity 72. It is located near the rear part 74. A plurality of passages 16 are provided along the mating surface 14 and include a housing
The contact portions of the terminal means (not shown) held in the respective 10 are inserted and held. This contact portion mates with a corresponding contact means (not shown) held in the housing 70 when the connector is mated. The housing 10 has a rear surface 18, wide and flat upper and lower outer surfaces 20,22, and low back surfaces 24,26. The mating connector housing 70 mated with the housing 70 has a front end 78, wide and flat upper and lower outer surfaces 80,8.
2. It has low back sides 84, 86 and a back side 88. Also, the illustrated housing 70 has a pair of right angle mounting flanges 90 to allow mounting in a horizontal or vertical direction on a circuit board (not shown). The illustrated housings 10, 70 have a low profile and are particularly suitable for connecting a terminated (connected) flat power cable to a circuit board.

A pair of latch arms 30 are provided on the sides 24, 26 of the housing 10.
In addition, a flexible hinge joint 32 integrated substantially at the center of the arm
It is connected by. Each latch arm 30 includes a forward portion 34 terminating at a free end 36 having a latch projection 38. The latch projection 38 extends toward the side surfaces 24 and 26 of the housing 10 as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to define the angle and to make the angle slightly outward.
Housing 70 includes a pair of latch recesses 92 with corresponding latch surfaces 94 formed rearwardly and slightly inward along side surfaces 84,86. Latch recess 92 has a latch projection in it
38 is formed to be inserted. Further, the latch arm 30 includes a rear portion (latch release portion) 42 extending rearward from the hinge joint 32 and serving as a grip for an operator.

During mating of the connector, the latch arm 30
Is slightly outwardly deformed as it rides on the portions 96 of the sides 84, 86 of the housing 70 and advances into the latch recesses 92. When mated, the latch projection 38 enters the latch recess 92 and the latch surface 40 latches behind the corresponding latch surface 94. Latch surface
Because the 40, 94 are slightly angled, a slight resistance is provided to prevent accidental release of the latch when stress or some vibration is applied to the mated connector. The free end 36 of the latch arm 30 is formed with a preferably angled (inclined) surface 44 in the vicinity of the connector at the front end 78 of the housing 70.
And the latch arm 30 acts outwardly in the initial stage of insertion. Disengage the latch arm
30 in the direction in which the rear portions 42 are close to each other, i.e., the housing 10
The latch arm 30 is rotated about each hinge joint 32 as a rotation axis by pressing the latch arm 30 in the direction of the side surfaces 24 and 26, the latch protrusion 38 is separated from the concave portion 92, and the housing 10 is
Enable to move in the direction away from 70.

The details of the hinge joint 32 are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and have a structure that easily deforms while the latch arm 30 is deforming. The hinge joint 32 includes a cutting tool 50 connected to the sides 24, 26 of the housing 10 by upper and lower legs 52, 54. The legs 52, 54 are vertically separated, creating a (strain) relief area 56 between the cutting tool 50 and the side surface 24 of the housing 10. The rib portion 58 has at least a horizontal rib component (horizontal rib portion) 60, and preferably also has a vertical rib component 62, and both rib components 60, 62 intersect to obtain a cross-shaped rib portion 58. The horizontal rib component 60 traverses the outer surface of the cutting tool 50 and the upper and lower legs 52,5.
It is connected to the middle part between the four. As the latch arm 30 deforms in a horizontal plane, the horizontal rib component 60 elastically deforms the center of the bite 50 along the first or trailing edge 64 of the bite 50 into the relief area 56 and its second or leading edge. It is deformed along 66 to move away from the relief area 56. Since the horizontal rib 60 extends in the front-rear direction on the outer surface of the cutting tool 50, and the latch arm 30 is connected to the horizontal rib 60, the cutting arm 50 is
When the tool is deformed, the secondary moment of area of the combined portion of the tool 50 and the horizontal rib 60 is larger than that of the tool 50 alone, and durability is given to stress and torque. The vertical rib component 62 has a rib 58 and a cutting tool
50 is given sufficient strength to provide durability against stress and torque. An inward projection on the rear latch arm 42
When the latch arm 30 is depressed when the latch arm 30 is released, it comes into contact with the side surfaces 24 and 26 of the housing 10 to limit the amount of deformation of the latch arm 30 and perform an anti-overstress (prevention of excessive stress) action. You may.

The latch for an electrical connector housing according to the present invention has been described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to only such an embodiment, and it will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, housing
The hinge connecting portion formed by the cutting tool 50 formed on the side surfaces 24 and 26 of the 10 does not need to be substantially U-shaped in cross section as in the illustrated embodiment, but may be formed in a V-shape or other shapes.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the latch for an electric connector housing according to the present invention, the cutting tool deformed by the latch arm is coupled to the pair of legs extending outward from the vicinity of the upper and lower ends of the side surface of the insulating housing, and is separated from the side surface of the insulating housing. Therefore, it has sufficient flexibility. A hinge joint having at least a horizontal rib portion extending in the front-rear direction on the outer surface of the cutting tool portion is provided, and a substantially central portion of the latch arm extending in the front-rear direction is connected to the horizontal rib portion of the hinge joint. Therefore, when the bite portion is deformed by the latch arm, the second moment of area of the portion where the bite portion and the horizontal rib portion are combined is larger than that of the bite portion alone, so that durability against stress and torque is imparted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a latch for an electric connector housing of the present invention having a pair of latch arms which are latch-engaged with a mating connector at a remote position. FIGS. 2A and 2B show the fitting shown in FIG. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the latch arm portion of the connector shown in FIG.
3 is a perspective view showing details of a hinge joint between the latch arm and the housing of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views of the hinge joint of FIG. The former is a sectional view along the line 4-4 in FIG. 1, and the latter is a sectional view along the line 5-5 in FIG. 10 Insulated housing 24, 26 Side 30 Latch arm 32 Hinge joint 38 Latch protrusion (Latch part) 42 Back part (Latch release part) 50 Tool holder 52, 54 Leg 60: Horizontal rib component (horizontal rib)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A pair of legs extending outwardly from near the upper and lower ends of a side surface of the insulating housing; a bite portion coupled to the pair of legs and spaced apart from the side surface of the insulating housing; A hinge joint having at least a horizontal rib portion extending in the front-rear direction on the outer side surface; and a substantially central portion extending in the front-rear direction and being connected to the horizontal rib portion of the hinge joint, and a latch portion formed near the front end. And a latch arm having a latch release portion formed in the vicinity of the rear end.