JP7096128B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector with a lock arm.

Conventionally, a connector having a lock arm has been known. The lock arm is generally adapted to maintain a fitted state between the connector and the mating connector by engaging with the mating housing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-250636 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-103372 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-131112

By the way, in the connector described in each of the above documents (hereinafter referred to as "conventional connector"), in order to disengage the engaged portion of the lock arm and the engaged portion of the mating housing, the lock arm is used. An operation (hereinafter referred to as "release operation") is performed to displace the release operation unit provided in the housing in a direction closer to the housing. In the conventional connector, a support portion protruding toward the housing is provided on the lock arm, and the support portion comes into contact with the surface of the housing during the release operation. Then, the support portion serves as a fulcrum and the lock arm is deformed so as to be curved, so that the engaging portion is displaced in the direction of disengaging the engagement with the mating housing.

However, since the support portion has a protruding shape, when the support portion functions as a fulcrum, a large stress may be generated on the housing surface to which the tip of the support portion is pressed. Then, due to such stress, there is a possibility that deformation such as a dent may occur on the housing surface. Such deformation usually has no substantial effect on the release operation. However, for example, when a large external force is applied to the lock arm during the release operation and excessive deformation occurs on the housing surface, the lock arm cannot properly release the engagement with the mating housing even if the release operation is performed. There is a possibility that it will be. From the viewpoint of maintaining a state in which the engagement by the lock arm can be properly released, it is preferable to suppress such deformation of the housing surface as much as possible.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of maintaining a state in which the lock arm can be properly disengaged from the mating housing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following [1] to [2].
[1]
A connector comprising a housing with a terminal accommodating chamber and a cantilever-shaped lock arm that can be engaged with the mating housing.
The lock arm is
The other party is arranged between a leaf spring portion having a fixed end connected to the housing and extending forward from the fixed end in the mating direction with the mating housing, and a free end and the fixed end of the leaf spring portion. An operation of connecting an engaging portion that can be engaged with the side housing, a pair of arm portions that extend from the leaf spring portion and extend rearward in the fitting direction, and the pair of arm portions so as to straddle the leaf spring portion. With a part,
When the operating portion is displaced toward the housing, the engaging portion moves in a direction of disengaging the mating housing with the contact point between the operating portion and the leaf spring portion as a fulcrum. The leaf spring portion is configured to be deformed.
Must be a connector.
[2]
In the connector described in [1] above,
The leaf spring portion is
It has a first portion extending from the fixed end so as to approach the operating portion, and a second portion extending forward from the first portion in the fitting direction.
The lock arm is
When the operating portion is displaced in a direction closer to the housing, the other part of the operating portion approaches the first portion with the contact point between a part of the operating portion and the second portion as the fulcrum. The engaging portion is configured to be displaced in a direction to disengage from the mating housing by further displacement to.
Must be a connector.

According to the connector having the configuration of [1] above, when the engagement between the lock arm and the mating housing is disengaged, when the operation portion of the lock arm is displaced toward the housing, the operation portion and the leaf spring portion are displaced. Contact. Then, the leaf spring portion is deformed so that the engaging portion moves in the direction of disengaging the engagement with the mating housing with the contact point between the operation portion and the leaf spring portion as a fulcrum. In other words, unlike the conventional connector, the protrusion of the lock arm is not pressed against the surface of the housing during the release operation. Further, the lock arm is usually easy to be designed to have excellent resistance to an external force as compared with a housing having a cavity such as a terminal accommodating chamber inside. Therefore, as compared with the conventional connector, even when a large external force is applied to the operation portion, the portion serving as a fulcrum (that is, the contact point between the operation portion and the leaf spring portion) is less likely to be deformed. Therefore, the connector of this configuration can maintain a state in which the lock arm can be properly disengaged from the mating housing.

According to the connector having the configuration of [2] above, the leaf spring portion has a first portion protruding from the fixed end so as to approach the operation portion, and a second portion extending forward from the first portion in the mating direction. Have. That is, in the vicinity of the fixed end, the leaf spring portion has a curved shape that extends toward the operation portion and then extends toward the front in the fitting direction. Then, when the release operation is performed, the other part of the operation unit is displaced so as to approach the first portion with the contact point between the part of the operation unit and the second portion as a fulcrum. As a result, the leaf spring portion can be easily displaced so that the engaging portion moves in a direction in which the engaging portion disengages from the mating housing. As described above, the connector having the present configuration can realize the connector having the configuration of the above [1] with a simple structure.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector capable of maintaining a state in which the lock arm can be appropriately disengaged from the mating housing.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the embodiments described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the accompanying drawings. ..

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a perspective view of the lock arm shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the lock arm. FIG. 3A is a plan view of the lock arm, and FIG. 3B is a front view of the lock arm. 4 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 (b), and FIG. 4 (b) shows a contact point between the operation portion and the leaf spring portion as a fulcrum by pressing the operation portion downward. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 4A which shows the functioning state.

Hereinafter, the connector 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The housing 10 of the connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 is adapted to be fitted with the mating housing (not shown) of the mating connector. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. 1, the front-back direction, the up-down direction, the width direction, the front, the back, the top, and the bottom are defined. The front-back direction, the up-down direction, and the width direction are orthogonal to each other. The front-rear direction coincides with the mating direction between the connector 1 and the mating connector.

As shown in FIG. 1, the resin housing 10 has a lock arm 20 for maintaining a fitted state with the mating housing, and a terminal (not shown) connected to an end of an electric wire (not shown). A terminal accommodating portion 30 for accommodating the terminal accommodating portion 30 and a hood portion 40 having a tubular shape surrounding the terminal accommodating portion 30 are provided. Although not shown, the housing 10 has a waterproof packing, a front holder mounted on the housing 10 from the front of the hood portion 40, and double locking of terminals housed in the terminal storage chamber 30. It may be provided with a spacer or the like for the like.

The terminal accommodating portion 30 has a substantially columnar shape extending along the front-rear direction (that is, the mating direction with the mating housing). The hood portion 40 defines an annular gap 50 around which the tubular portion (not shown) of the mating housing is fitted around the terminal accommodating portion 30. The hood portion 40 covers the outer periphery of the tubular portion of the mating housing that fits into the annular gap 50.

The hood portion 40 has a pair of protective walls 41 that face each other in the width direction and extend in the front-rear direction so as to sandwich the lock arm 20 in the width direction. The hood portion 40 has a spacer insertion port 42 on its side surface (side surface on the right side in FIG. 1). The spacer insertion port 42 is an opening for attaching (inserting) the spacer (not shown) to the spacer insertion portion (not shown) of the terminal accommodating portion 30 in the housing 10. The spacer has, for example, a function of detecting a semi-inserted state of the terminal and a double locking function of the terminal in the fully inserted state.

When the fitting of the housing 10 and the mating housing is completed, the lock arm 20 engages with the lock protrusion (not shown) of the mating housing and maintains the mating state between the housing 10 and the mating housing. Has.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the lock arm 20 includes a cantilever-shaped leaf spring portion 21 that is elastically deformable. The leaf spring portion 21 has a first portion 22 protruding upward from the upper surface of the terminal accommodating portion 30 of the housing 10, and a substantially flat plate-shaped second portion 23 extending forward from the upper end portion of the first portion 22. It has one body (particularly, see FIG. 4). In other words, the leaf spring portion 21 has a curved shape that extends away from the housing 10 and then extends forward in the fitting direction in the vicinity of the fixed end. The lower end of the first portion 22 corresponds to the fixed end of the leaf spring portion 21, and the tip (front end) of the second portion 23 corresponds to the free end of the leaf spring portion 21.

The tip of the second portion 23 functions as an engaging portion 24 to which the locking projection of the mating housing engages. The engaging portion 24 is formed with an engaging hole (through hole) 25 with which the lock protrusion of the mating housing is engaged.

A pair of connecting arm portions 26 extend rearward from both ends of the engaging portion 24 in the width direction at positions outside the width directions of the second end portions 23 in the width direction. The rear end portions of the pair of connecting arm portions 26 are integrally provided with a substantially flat plate-shaped operating portion 27 that connects the rear end portions of the pair of connecting arm portions 26 and extends in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the front end portion 27a of the operation portion 27 is vertically straddled between the rear end portion 23a and the rear end portion 23a of the second portion 23 of the leaf spring portion 21 so as to straddle the rear end portion 23a in the width direction. It is located with a slight gap between them. The rear end portion 27b of the operation portion 27 is located behind the first portion 22 of the leaf spring portion 21. Therefore, it can be said that the first portion 22 of the leaf spring portion 21 projects upward from the fixed end of the leaf spring portion 21 so as to approach the operation portion 27.

A pair of stoppers 28 projecting outward in the width direction are integrally provided on the outer surface in the width direction at a position slightly rearward from the center in the front-rear direction of the pair of connecting arm portions 26. The pair of stoppers 28 can be engaged with the engaging portion (not shown) of the pair of protective walls 41 of the housing 10. Therefore, when a force in the upward direction (that is, the direction opposite to the arrow Z2 in FIG. 4B) is applied to the operation portion 27, the stopper 28 is damaged due to excessive displacement of the connecting arm portion 26 in the upward direction. It has a function to prevent it from happening.

The lock arm 20 is elastically deformed so that the leaf spring portion 21 bends upward (that is, in the direction of arrow Z1 in FIG. 4B) during the fitting between the housing 10 and the mating housing, so that the mating housing The lock protrusion of the above is slipped under the engaging portion 24. Then, when the fitting between the housing 10 and the mating housing is completed, the position of the engaging portion 24 returns to the initial position before elastic deformation due to the restoring force of the leaf spring portion 21. As a result, the lock protrusion of the mating housing engages with the engaging hole 25, and the fitted state of the housing 10 and the mating housing is maintained.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the rear end portion 27b of the operation portion 27 is pushed down in the downward direction (Z2 direction in FIG. 4B), the lower surface (planar surface) of the front end portion 27a of the operation portion 27. Is in face-to-face contact with the upper surface (plane surface) of the rear end portion 23a of the second portion 23 of the leaf spring portion 21 (see the portion B in FIG. 4B). When the rear end portion 27b is further pushed down, the rear end portion 27b of the operation portion 27 is displaced so as to approach the first portion 22 of the leaf spring portion 21 with this contact point as a fulcrum. As a result, the leaf spring portion 21 is deformed so as to be curved clockwise in FIG. 4 (b). As a result, the engaging portion 24 is displaced upward (that is, in the direction of arrow Z1 in FIG. 4B, which is the direction in which the engagement with the mating housing is disengaged). As a result, the engagement between the engaging portion 24 and the lock protrusion is released, and the housing 10 and the mating housing are in a separable state.

As described above, according to the connector 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the engaging portion 24 of the lock arm 20 and the mating housing are disengaged, the operation portion 27 of the lock arm 20 is brought closer to the housing 10 (the direction in which the operating portion 27 of the lock arm 20 is brought closer to the housing 10 ( That is, when displaced downward (in the Z2 direction in FIG. 4 (b)), the engaging portion 24 becomes a fulcrum with the contact point between the operation portion 27 and the leaf spring portion 21 (see the portion B in FIG. 4 (b)) as a fulcrum. It is displaced in the direction of disengagement from the mating housing (that is, upward, in the Z1 direction in FIG. 4B). As a result, compared to the conventional connector, even when a large external force is applied to the operation portion 27, the surface of the terminal accommodating portion 30 of the housing 10 is less likely to be deformed.

Further, the lock arm 20 is usually easy to be designed to have excellent resistance to an external force as compared with a housing 10 having a cavity such as a terminal accommodating chamber inside. For example, in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the thickness of the leaf spring portion 21 around the contact point B in the vertical direction is designed to be sufficiently able to withstand the external force at the time of disengagement. Can be considered.

Therefore, the connector 1 having the present configuration can appropriately disengage the engagement of the lock arm 20 with the housing on the other side, if necessary. Further, as compared with the conventional connector, such a state can be properly maintained.

<Other forms>
The present invention is not limited to each of the above embodiments, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified, improved, and the like. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

In the above embodiment, when the rear end portion 27b of the operation portion 27 is pushed down, the lower surface (plane surface) of the front end portion 27a of the operation portion 27 becomes the leaf spring portion 21 as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Face-to-face contact with the upper surface (plane surface) of the rear end portion 23a of the second portion 23 (see the portion B in FIG. 4B). On the other hand, when the rear end portion 27b of the operation portion 27 is pushed down downward, the lower surface of the front end portion 27a of the operation portion 27 is lined with the upper surface of the rear end portion 23a of the second portion 23 of the leaf spring portion 21. It may be configured to make contact or point contact. Even with this, the surface of the terminal accommodating portion 30 of the housing 10 is less likely to be deformed as compared with the conventional connector.

Here, the features of the above-described embodiment of the connector 1 according to the present invention are briefly summarized and listed below in [1] and [2], respectively.
[1]
A connector (1) comprising a housing (10) having a terminal accommodating chamber (30) and a cantilever-shaped lock arm (20) engageable with the mating housing.
The lock arm (20) is
A leaf spring portion (21) having a fixed end connected to the housing (10) and extending forward from the fixed end in the mating direction with the mating housing, and a free end and the fixed end of the leaf spring portion (21). An engaging portion (24) arranged between the two and engaged with the mating housing, and a pair of arm portions (26) extending rearward in the mating direction extending from the leaf spring portion (21). And an operation unit (27) that connects the pair of arm portions (26) so as to straddle the leaf spring portion (21).
When the operation portion (27) is displaced in a direction closer to the housing (10), the engagement portion (B) with the contact point (B) between the operation portion (27) and the leaf spring portion (21) as a fulcrum is used. 24) is configured to deform the leaf spring portion (21) so as to move in a direction in which the mating housing is disengaged.
connector.
[2]
In the connector described in [1] above,
The leaf spring portion (21) is
It has a first portion (22) extending from the fixed end so as to approach the operating portion (27), and a second portion (23) extending forward from the first portion (22) in the fitting direction. ,
The lock arm (20) is
When the operating portion (27) is displaced in a direction closer to the housing (10), the contact point (B) between a part of the operating portion (27) and the second portion (23) is used as the fulcrum. The other part of the operating portion (27) is further displaced so as to approach the first portion (22), so that the engaging portion (24) is displaced in a direction to disengage from the mating housing. Configured to
connector.

1 Connector 10 Housing 20 Lock arm 21 Leaf spring part 22 1st part 23 2nd part 24 Engagement part 26 Connecting arm part (arm part)
27 Operation unit 27a Part 27b Other part 30 Terminal accommodation chamber (terminal accommodation)
B Contact point

Claims (2)

A connector comprising a housing with a terminal accommodating chamber and a cantilever-shaped lock arm that can be engaged with the mating housing.
The lock arm is
The other party is arranged between a leaf spring portion having a fixed end connected to the housing and extending forward from the fixed end in the mating direction with the mating housing, and a free end and the fixed end of the leaf spring portion. An operation of connecting an engaging portion that can be engaged with the side housing, a pair of arm portions that extend from the leaf spring portion and extend rearward in the fitting direction, and the pair of arm portions so as to straddle the leaf spring portion. With a part,
When the operating portion is displaced toward the housing, the engaging portion moves in a direction of disengaging the mating housing with the contact point between the operating portion and the leaf spring portion as a fulcrum. The leaf spring portion is configured to be deformed.
connector. In the connector according to claim 1,
The leaf spring portion is
It has a first portion extending from the fixed end so as to approach the operating portion, and a second portion extending forward from the first portion in the fitting direction.
The lock arm is
When the operating portion is displaced in a direction closer to the housing, the other part of the operating portion approaches the first portion with the contact point between a part of the operating portion and the second portion as the fulcrum. The engaging portion is configured to be displaced in a direction to disengage from the mating housing by further displacement to.
connector.

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