JP3241089B2 - Connector lock release mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unlocking mechanism for a connector, and more particularly, to a connector unlocking mechanism by operating a single operating member.
The present invention relates to an unlocking mechanism for unlocking individual lock levers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic equipment such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) and a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as an HD).
Connectors) are often used to interconnect peripheral devices such as D). If these connectors are disengaged from each other during use, problems such as destruction of data will occur. Therefore, these connectors generally have a lock mechanism to prevent the disengagement from being easily disengaged.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a typical example of a conventional electrical connector 100 having a lock mechanism.
No. 5883). The electrical connector 100 has lock levers 104, 104 on opposite side surfaces 102, 102, respectively. Each lock lever 104 is provided at one end with a lock portion 1 that locks with a lock portion 114 of a mating connector 112.
06, and the locking portion 10
6 has an operation unit 110 for releasing the lock. The opposing lock portions 106, 106 rotate outward due to engagement with the locking portions 114, 114 of the mating connector 112, and return to the original position when the locking portions 114, 114 are exceeded, and are locked. Lock with the parts 114,114. When releasing the lock, the operation units 110, 110 of the lock levers 104, 104 are pressed by a finger or the like in a direction approaching each other. Since the lock portions 106 and 106 rotate outward by this pressing, the lock portions 106 and 106 and the locking portion 11
4, 114 are disengaged.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In recent years, miniaturization of PCs,
In response to higher performance, miniaturization and higher density of connectors are being realized. However, when a miniaturized PC handles an extremely large amount of information and the number of signal lines increases, P
The occupied volume of the cable connecting C and its peripheral devices cannot be ignored. When the cable is oriented rearward of a PC or peripheral device as in the connector of FIG.
The overall dimensions including the cable in the depth direction such as C cannot be reduced, and the advantage of downsizing the PC or the like cannot be fully utilized.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the dimension of the PC or the like in the depth direction by orienting the cable to the side of the PC or the like. However, in this case, since the operating portion of one lock lever approaches the cable oriented sideways, it is difficult for a finger to enter the operating portion, and the operability of the operating portion of the lock lever is significantly deteriorated.

To solve this problem, a connector 120 shown in FIG. 8 has been proposed (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-57028). In this connector 120, a single unlocking tool 122 drives two lock levers 124, 124, so that the lock with the mating connector can be unlocked only by operating the unlocking tool 122.

However, in order to release the lock, the lock release tool 122 is gripped from both sides of the connector 120,
While sliding the lock release tool 122, the connector 12
0 needs to be pulled backwards. Therefore, connector 1
Space is required behind the connector 120 to hold both sides of the connector 20. In addition, since it is necessary to slide the unlocking tool 122 on the back surface of the connector 120, there is a problem that the operability of unlocking is poor. Further, since the unlocking tool 122 is slid in the depth direction, there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the dimension of the connector 120 in the depth direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector unlocking mechanism which solves the above-mentioned problems, that is, a connector unlocking mechanism which can reduce the dimension in the depth direction and is excellent in operability of unlocking. And

[0009]

Connector unlocking mechanism according to the present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION comprises a connector for accommodating a plurality of contacts, provided at both ends of the mating face of the connector, the mating connector to the connector fitting A pair of lock levers that engage and lock the locking portion, a cover housing that covers the connector and the pair of lock levers, and that protrudes outside from one side of the cover housing and has one front side.
The serial lock lever abuts, the one by a pressing operation
An operating member for driving the lock lever to release the lock ,
One end is fixed to the operation member, and the other end is the other end.
Touching the lock lever, the operation by the pressing operation
The movement of the working member is transmitted to the other lock lever and the other
Link member to release the lock by the lock lever
In the cover housing, in the locked position of the pair of lock levers, to prevent the movement of the operating member,
In the unlocked position, an operation member lock member that allows movement of the operation member is attached.

[0010]

When the operating member is pressed and moved from the outside of the cover housing, the one lock lever and the other lock lever are driven together via the link member, and the pair of lock levers are unlocked simultaneously. The operation member lock member prevents movement of the operation member at the lock position of the pair of lock levers to prevent inadvertent release of the lock lever,
At the lock release position, the pair of lock levers can be released by allowing the operation member to move.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the connector unlocking mechanism of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the connector unlocking mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the lock release mechanism of FIG. FIG. 3 shows an operation member and an operation member lock member of the lock release mechanism of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG.

In FIG. 1, an electric connector 1 covered with a shield case 5 is accommodated in two cover housings 10 and 12. Cover housing 10, 1
2, the fitting surface 2 of the electrical connector 1 is exposed from the opening 16 of the one surface 14.
0 'is provided. The lock portions 32 of the lock levers 30 and 30 ′ are connected to a connector 90 on a device such as a PC or HDD.
With the locking portion 92, and maintain the fitted state. An operation end 44 of an operation member 40 integrated with the lock lever 30 protrudes from an opening 20 on one side surface 18 of the cover housings 10 and 12. Further, from the other side surface 22 opposing the one side surface 18 of the cover housings 10 and 12, the electric connector 1
A cable 4 for accommodating a plurality of electric wires (not shown) connected to the contacts 3 accommodated therein is extended.

In FIG. 2, each lock lever 30, 3
0 ′ is formed of a metal plate, has a lock portion 32 at one end, and integrally has a spring portion 36 at the other end. Each of the lock levers 30 and 30 ′ is urged by a spring 36 in a direction in which the locks 32 approach each other around the support shaft 6 provided on the shield case 5, and the locks 32.
Are rotatable in directions away from each other. An operating member 40 made of a synthetic resin is attached to the other end of one lock lever 32. The operating member 40 has an operating end 44 whose shaft 42 (FIG. 3) passes through the hole 52 of the operating member locking member 50 and protrudes outside the cover housings 10 and 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the hole 52 of the operation member lock member 50 has an outer dimension substantially equal to the dimension of the operation end 44, and allows the operation end 44 to be inserted. The operation member lock member 50 is sandwiched between the cover housings 10 and 12 so as to be rotatable by 90 degrees in the direction of arrow B. When the hole 52 is in a position indicated by a solid line (an unlock position), the operation end 44 can be pressed from the outside. is there. When the hole 52 is in the position indicated by the broken line (lock position), one surface 46 of the operation end 44 is connected to the operation member lock member 5.
0, so that the operation end 44 is prevented from moving. Thus, if the operation member lock member 50 is set at the lock position, it is possible to prevent the lock levers 30, 30 'and the locking portion 92 from being inadvertently disengaged, and to prevent an accident such as data destruction of the HDD. To prevent.

One end 62 of the elongated link member 60 is fixed to the operation member 40, and the other end 64 is in contact with the other lock lever 30 'near the lock portion 32. For this reason, when the operating end 44 of the operating member 40 is pressed from outside the cover housings 10 and 12, one of the lock levers 30 is directly driven and at the same time the other lock lever 30 'is driven via the link member 60. The operation member 40
Is provided, the lock levers 30, 3
The operating member 4 can be reliably connected without depending on the spring portion 36 of the 0 '.
0 can be urged outward, and lock levers 30, 30 'without the spring portion 36 can also be used. Further, the link member 60 is guided by a guide portion (not shown) of the upper cover housing 10 so that the engagement between the other end 64 and the lock arm 30 ′ is not released. As is clear from the figure, in the present embodiment, there is no element for increasing the dimension in the depth direction other than the cable 4, and the moving direction of the operation member 40 intersects with the depth direction, so that the space required in the depth direction is reduced. .

FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan views, partially cut away, showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The parts corresponding to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The lock levers 30, 30 'are provided at their other ends with a synthetic resin operating portion 38.
Are integrated. In this embodiment, a conventional electric connector with a lock lever can be used as it is.

The operating member 4 is provided on the lower cover housing 12.
0 'is supported on the shaft 48, and the projection 49 of the operation member 40' comes into contact with the operation portion 38 of one lock lever 30 '. The operating end 44 'of the operating member 40' projects outward from the opening 20 in one side surface 18 of the cover housings 10, 12. In the cover housings 10 and 12, a first link member is provided.
The link rod 70, the rotor 76, and the second link rod 84 are accommodated. The first link rod 70 has one end 72 fixed to the operation member 40 ′, and the other end 74 fixed to one end 78 of a rotor 76 supported by the cover housing 12. One end 86 of the second link rod 84 is fixed to the other end 80 of the rotor 76, and the other end 88 is in contact with the operating portion 38 of the other lock lever 30 '. A guide projection 24 provided on the cover housing 12 is provided between one end 86 and the other end 88 of the second link rod 84.
Guided by The engagement between the other end 88 of the second link rod 84 and the operation portion 38 of the lock lever 30 'is not released by the guide projection 24. In addition, the guide protrusion 2
4 is another projection 26 provided on the cover housing 12.
At the same time, the positioning of the electrical connector 1 in the depth direction is performed.

The moving direction of the second link rod 84 is
6 reverses that of the first link rod 70. For this reason, as shown in FIG.
When 4 'is pressed from outside the cover housings 10, 12, the operating portion 38 of one lock lever 30 is driven in substantially the same direction as the pressing direction, and at the same time, the operation of the lock lever 30' is performed in the opposite direction to the pressing direction. The unit 38 is driven. Therefore, a single operation of pressing the operation member 40 ′ requires 2
The locks of the individual lock levers 30, 30 'can be released.

An operating member lock member 50 'is rotatably mounted on the back surface 28 of the cover housings 10, 12. As shown in FIG. 6, the operation member locking member 50 'has a regulating protrusion 56 having a shape obtained by cutting a column vertically. In the position shown in FIG. 4, one side 58 of the regulating protrusion 56 contacts one end 78 of the rotor 76 to prevent the rotation of the rotor 76. For this reason, the movement of the operation member 40 'connected via the first link rod 70 is prevented. In addition, at the position shown in FIG. 5 where the operation member lock member 50 ′ is rotated 90 degrees, the restricting projection 56 does not restrict the rotation of the rotor 76, so that the operation member 40 ′ can be moved by pressing.

Although the preferred embodiment of the connector unlocking mechanism of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made as needed. For example, in the first embodiment, the first link rod 70, the rotor 76, and the second link rod 84 of the second embodiment may be used instead of the link member 60, or other link mechanisms may be used. Is also good. Further, in the second embodiment, the rotor 76 as the link member may be replaced with a lever having the center as a fulcrum. Further, the operation member lock member 5
0 ′ is the operation member 4 instead of restricting the rotation of the rotor 76.
The movement of 0 'may be directly restricted. In the second embodiment, the lock levers 30 and 30 'are not provided with the operation part 38 made of synthetic resin, and the other ends of the lock levers 30 and 30' and the operation member 40 'or the second link rod 84 are not provided. The end 88 may be directly contacted. The present invention can be applied to an electric connector without a shield case. In this case, the rotation axis of the lock lever may be provided on either the cover housing or the electrical connector housing. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to electrical connectors but also to optical connectors and the like.

According to the present invention, since the unlocking of the engagement between the connectors is realized by only a single operation of pressing the operating member, there is an advantage that the operability of unlocking is excellent. Further, the movement of the operation member can be restricted by the operation member lock member, and the careless release of the lock lever can be prevented. Further, the operation member for releasing the lock member protrudes to the outside from one side surface of the cover housing, and its moving direction is a direction intersecting the depth direction of the connector, so that the space required in the depth direction of the connector is required. Becomes smaller. Therefore, it contributes to downsizing of the entire electronic device system including the connector.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a connector unlocking mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the lock release mechanism of FIG. 1;

3A and 3B show an operation member and an operation member lock member of the lock release mechanism of FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the lock release mechanism of the connector according to the present invention, in which a part of the lock release mechanism before the lock release operation is cut away.

FIG. 5 is a plan view after the lock release operation of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an operation member lock member of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional example of a connector having a lock mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another conventional example of a connector having a lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 3 Contact 4 Cable 10, 12 Cover housing 18 One side surface 22 The other side surface 30, 30 'Lock lever 40, 40' Operation member 60, 70, 76, 84 Link member 90 Mating connector

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector for accommodating a plurality of contacts, and a pair of lock levers provided at both ends of a mating surface of the connector and engaged with and locked by a locking portion of a mating connector fitted with the connector. When the cover housing covering the connector and the pair of lock levers, whereupon projecting outward from one side of the cover housing
Both abut against one of the lock levers.
An operating member for driving the one lock lever to release the lock , one end of which is fixed to the operating member, and the other end of which is the other end.
Touching the lock lever, the operation by the pressing operation
The movement of the working member is transmitted to the other lock lever and the other
Link member to release the lock by the lock lever
Comprising a, characterized in that said cover housing, said movement of the operating member prevents the locking position of the pair of the locking lever, in the unlocking position is mounted the operating member locking member to permit movement of said operating member Connector unlocking mechanism.