JP2811650B2 - Electrical connector locking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lock mechanism for an electric connector which can be locked to prevent the connector from coming off at the time of mating connection with a mating connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such an electrical connector locking mechanism, those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-16674 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-66174 are known.

[0003] This known electrical connector has a housing whose cross section on a plane perpendicular to the direction of fitting to the mating connector is rectangular in a horizontal direction. That is, the mating surface is flat
It has a square cylindrical surface with a rectangular cross section. The lock lever is made of a leaf spring material integrally having a lever main body and a locking hook provided at a tip end thereof. Such a lock lever is provided symmetrically on both lateral sides of the lateral end of the housing, the lever body is housed in the housing, and the locking hook is exposed on the fitting side surface. The lock lever is formed with a surface substantially parallel to the side surface of the housing,
The locking hook is displaced in a direction perpendicular to the side surface of the housing so as to lock and release with the mating connector. It is bent so that the contact portion with the release button projects in the same direction.

Thus, the lock lever of the above-mentioned known electric connector has been given a predetermined shape by punching a leaf spring material into a predetermined contour and pressing it in the plate thickness direction.

[0005]

However, the above-described electrical connector lock structure has the following problems. The release button for unlocking is on the side of the housing, and the unlocking operation is performed by pressing the release button in the width direction of the housing, so the connector may come off from the hand depending on the force applied , Difficult to operate. Because the lock lever has a three-dimensional shape,
The housing becomes larger in the width direction. In addition, since the release button is located on the outside in the same direction, the size is further increased. The lock lever having the three-dimensional shape may be deformed when handling storage before assembling the connector. The lock lever having the above-mentioned shape has to be complicated in its shape, and requires a lot of work to increase the cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a lock mechanism for an electric connector which solves such a problem and which can be easily processed and which can reduce the size of a housing, that is, an electric connector.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide a housing having a rectangular shape whose cross section in a plane perpendicular to the mating direction of the mating connector is long in the lateral direction. A leaf spring-like lever body having a lock lever at its tip on the fitting surface of the lock lever is housed in the housing, and the lock hook is released from a locked state with a mating connector. In the case where the release button is provided on the outer surface of the housing, the lock lever has a locking hook and a lever body.
And the lever body portion is formed integrally in a flat plate shape so as to have
U-shape with two finger-shaped parts connected together at the rear end
And one finger is positioned further in front of the other finger.
After turning to the other finger, it becomes parallel to the one line.
Turn again to extend forward, and the tip of the one finger
A locking hook is provided at an end, and the lock lever is disposed in a pair on both sides, which are lateral ends of the housing, and a lever main body forms a surface parallel to a side surface of the housing. In the housing, it extends toward the front end of the fitting surface and has a bending elasticity in the plane of the lever body, and the locking hook located in front of the lever body protrudes from the fitting surface, and is released. The button extends laterally at a right angle to the side surface of the housing , and presses the lever body of the pair of lock levers in a direction parallel to the surface of the lever body directly or via a transmission member. The lever body is elastically bent and deformed in the direction in which the locking hooks are retracted .
The above housing is a square tubular shape that fits with the mating connector
At the two corners of the mating surface of
A matching recessed step is formed extending in the fitting direction, and
This is achieved by the locking hook of the lock lever being formed projecting at the concave step .

[0008]

In the lock mechanism of the electric connector of the present invention having the above-described structure, the lock lever is formed in a flat plate shape by merely punching. Therefore, the housing is only slightly widened by the thickness of the lock lever. And one of the two fingers of the lock lever
Turns to the other side, then turns again and extends forward
A locking hook is provided at the tip of the housing,
The distance between the outer edges of the two fingers
Just thickening will not increase the size of the connector
No. In addition, the locking projection projects at the concave step of the housing,
The hand connector has a ridge that matches the concave step, where
Because it is reinforced, the strength is sufficient even when receiving the locking force
Become. In other words, the connector must be thickened for reinforcement.
No need.

In releasing the lock, the release button is wide and located on the upper or lower surface of the housing having a large area, and the pressing force is applied in the thickness direction of the housing, so that the holding of the housing by hand is stabilized. . The pressing force from the release button is transmitted directly to the lever body of the pair of lock levers or simultaneously through the transmission member,
The lever main body undergoes bending deformation in its plane, and the locking hook is inserted from the mating surface with the mating connector, and the lock is released.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electric connector and a mating connector of this embodiment in a state before connection.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an electric connector according to the present embodiment, which has a rectangular shape whose cross section perpendicular to the mating direction with the mating connector C is long in the lateral direction. The housing 2 of the connector 1 is vertically divided and connected by clamps 4 and screws 5 while holding a fitting portion for connection with a mating connector.

The fitting portion 3 is formed with a receiving groove 6 which is long in the lateral direction and extends in the fitting direction, and contacts 7 are arranged on upper and lower inner surfaces thereof. Fitting the upper surface side (corner portion) of the engaging portion 3 is formed with a recessed step 3A taken gouge in凹弯song shape, the recessed step
The locking hook 8 of the lock lever protrudes upward from the portion 3A . A release button 9 for releasing the lock of the lock lever is provided on the upper surface of the housing 2.

As shown in FIG. 2 showing a central longitudinal section (a section in a plane parallel to the ZX plane) of FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 showing a lock mechanism including the lock lever, the lock lever 10 has a spring property. The two finger-shaped parts 11A, 1A are formed by punching a plate material having
It has a U-shaped lever main body 11 formed of 1B, and a triangular locking hook 8 is provided at the tip of an upper long finger 11A, and is housed in a groove in the housing 2. this
The finger 11A is an intermediate part and is directed toward the other finger 11B.
It turns to a crank shape. That is, as shown
In addition, the locking hook 8 has almost two fingers 11A and 11B.
It is within the height range.

The lock lever 10 is shown in FIGS.
As can be seen from FIG. As shown in FIG.
At a slit-shaped window 12 formed above the fitting surface. Also, the finger 1 of the lever body 11
1A and 11B are accommodated in a groove in a housing having a width corresponding to the plate thickness, and an intermediate wall 13A and a bottom wall 1 of the housing are provided.
3B at the upper and lower edges. Thus, the upper long finger 11A having the locking hook 8 formed at the tip can be elastically bent downward, that is, in a direction to narrow the interval with the lower finger 11B. At that time, how
The bottom wall 3B of the fitting part 3 of the jing 2 is closed,
As a stopper for preventing excessive bending deformation of the portion 11A
Working. As is clear from the figure, the finger 11A is long.
The hook is formed by pressing the release button 9
8 can greatly bend, so more than necessary bending
To prevent the finger from being damaged.
You.

A hole 14 is formed in the intermediate wall 13A of the housing 2, into which an L-shaped tip projection 15A of a lever-shaped transmission member 15 extending rearward enters, and a hole 14 is formed in the finger-like portion 11A. It is in contact with the pressure receiving part in the middle part. As shown in FIG. 4, the transmission members are provided corresponding to the two lock levers 10, respectively, and the rear ends 15B of the transmission members are held by the housing, and are bent downward in a cantilever state. It has become.

The upper wall 2A of the housing 2 has a window-like shape extending in the lateral (width) direction of the housing 2 (in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 2) and straddling the positions of the two transmission members 15, 15. An opening 2B is formed. The opening 2B
A release button 9 is arranged to be movable up and down, and is attached to the two transmission members 15 and 15 by grooves at the bottom (see FIG. 4).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the mating connector C is formed with a fitting recess C1 for receiving the fitting portion 3 of the electric connector 1 of the present embodiment, and a contact is formed in the fitting recess C1. Are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces, and have a contact array portion C2 which enters the receiving groove 6 of the electric connector 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a triangular engaging groove that engages with the engaging hook 8 of the lock lever 10 of the electrical connector 1 is provided on the upper surface on both sides in the width direction of the fitting recess C <b> 1. C3 is formed. In addition, the above-mentioned
A ridge that matches the concave step 3A of the connector 1 extends in the fitting direction.
The locking groove C3 is formed in the ridge.
ing.

The electrical connector of this embodiment having the above-described configuration is connected to a mating connector in the following manner.

First, at the time of connection, as shown in FIG. 2, the fitting portion 3 of the electric connector 1 of this embodiment is inserted into the fitting recess C1 of the mating connector C. The locking hook 8 of the electrical connector 1 comes into contact with the entrance edge of the fitting concave portion C1 of the mating connector and is elastically bent, so that the fitting portion 3 enters the predetermined position. Then, the locking hook 8 returns from the bent state to the free state, locks in the locking groove C3, and the electrical connector does not come off.

Next, when disconnecting the electric connector from the mating connector, the release button 9 is pressed downward by a finger as shown in FIG. The pressing force is simultaneously transmitted to the fingers 11A of the pair of lock levers 10 via the transmission member 15, and the fingers 11A bend downward in the plane of the paper of FIG. The suspension is released. In this state, the electric connector is pulled out.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lock lever which is flat and has two parallel fingers is arranged on the side surface of the housing in parallel with the side surface, and this is released from above by the release button. The lock is released by bending and locking
In the height range of the two fingers, and furthermore, the hook
Is located in the concave step of the housing, so that the unlocking operation can be performed stably and easily, and the housing can be downsized in the width direction and the height direction . Further, since the lock lever can be made only by a simple punching process, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and deformation during storage and handling can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electric connector according to an embodiment of the present invention together with a mating connector.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the connector of FIG. 1 at a position of a lock lever.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the electric connector of FIG. 2 in a state where a release button is pressed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship among a lock lever, a transmission member, and a release button of the electric connector of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 electrical connector 2 housing3 Fitting part 3A concave step  8 Locking hook 9 Release button 10 Lock lever 11 Lever body11A, 11B finger part  15 Transmission member

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A housing having a rectangular shape whose cross section in a plane perpendicular to a mating direction of a mating connector is long in a lateral direction, and a locking hook portion at a front end portion on a mating surface with the mating connector. A lock lever having a leaf spring-shaped lever main body housed in the housing and having a release button on an outer surface of the housing for releasing the locking hook from a locked state with a mating connector; lever whole to have the same surface of the locking hook and the lever main body portion is formed integrally flat plate-like one the lever body portion toward the distal end
Two fingers parallel to two lines joined together at the rear end
Form a U-shape, one finger part ahead of the other finger part
One line after turning to the other finger side at
Re-turn so as to be parallel to and extend forward,
A locking hook is provided at the tip of the finger, and the lock levers are arranged in pairs on both sides, which are lateral ends of the housing, and the lever body is parallel to the side surface of the housing. The surface of the lever body extends in the housing toward the front end of the fitting surface, has a bending elasticity in the plane of the lever main body, and the locking hook located in front of the lever main body protrudes from the fitting surface. and which, release button is pressed the lever body portion of the pair of the lock lever directly or via a transmission member extend laterally without the side at right angles with the housing in a plane parallel to the direction of the lever body portion Then, the lever main body is elastically deformed and deformed in a direction in which the locking hook portion is submerged in the plane, and the housing is fitted with a mating connector.
At the two corners of the square cylindrical fitting surface, the corresponding protrusions of the mating connector
A concave step that matches the ridge is formed to extend in the fitting direction, and
The locking hooks of the paired lock levers
A lock mechanism for an electric connector, which is provided. 2. A lock for unlocking the housing.
Stopper to prevent excessive bending deformation of lever
The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is formed.
Lock mechanism. 3. The electrical connector locking mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lever body has a pressure receiving portion for receiving a force from a release button at an intermediate portion of the one finger portion.