JP7439480B2 - Connector and energy harvester - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector and an energy harvester.

A known connector is composed of a male connector and a female connector, and the female connector or the male connector is provided on the outer periphery of a plate-shaped energy harvesting body. For example, in the connector described in Patent Document 1, the female connector has a connection port with a terminal, and the male connector has a terminal connected to the terminal of the connection port, and a male connector main body that is removably connected to the connection port. have.

Patent No. 5298727

However, in the connector described in Patent Document 1, the proximal end side of the male connector body in the insertion/extraction direction may be damaged due to the operation of connecting and disconnecting the connection port and the male connector body, or the action of external force in the connected state. If the continuous male connector main body periphery is particularly thin, a large load is applied to the male connector main body periphery, which may cause deformation or damage.

An object of the present invention is to provide a connector and an energy harvesting body that can reduce the load on the periphery of a male connector body.

A connector as a first aspect of the present invention is composed of a female connector and a male connector, and the female connector or the male connector is a connector provided on the outer periphery of a plate-shaped energy harvesting body, and the female connector has a terminal. The male connector has a pair of wall surfaces facing each other with an interval in the thickness direction and extending from the proximal end side in the insertion/extraction direction of the connection port, and the male connector has a terminal that is connected to the terminal of the connection port. A male connector main body is provided and removably connected to the connection port, and the male connector main body is connected to the proximal end side in the insertion/extraction direction of the male connector main body and is sandwiched between a pair of wall surfaces at both side portions that are outside the male connector main body in the width direction. The male connector main body support part has a receiving part and a protruding part that abuts on both sides of the receiving part in the width direction, and the pair of wall surfaces has one of a receiving part and a protruding part that abuts on both sides of the receiving part in the width direction. has the other. According to such a configuration, by sandwiching the male connector body supporting portion between the pair of walls at both side portions that are outside the male connector body in the width direction, the center axis of the male connector body along the insertion/extraction direction is Since the relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector can be efficiently restricted, loads such as impact loads caused by rattling in the direction of relative rotation can be reduced. In addition, since the male connector main body support part has a wider width than the male connector main body, it is possible to avoid damage to the male connector main body support part, which is the peripheral part of the male connector main body, and It is possible to relieve the stress generated on the outer periphery of the continuous energy harvesting body and reduce the load. In addition, the relative rotation of the male connector to the female connector about the central axis of the male connector main body along the thickness direction is efficiently regulated by the contact between the receiving part and the protruding part, which are arranged apart from the center of rotation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce loads such as impact loads caused by wobbling in the relative rotation direction.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the male connector may be provided on the outer periphery of the energy harvesting body. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the load generated on the outer periphery of the energy harvesting body, which is a part of the periphery of the male connector main body.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the male connector main body support portion may be widened toward the base end side in the insertion/extraction direction. According to such a configuration, it is possible to disperse the stress transmitted from the male connector main body support part to the peripheral part of the male connector main body, so that the load generated in the peripheral part of the male connector main body can be efficiently reduced.

In one embodiment of the invention, the protrusion may have a width greater than the thickness of the energy harvesting body. According to this configuration, the relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector can be more efficiently regulated by the contact between the receiving part and the protruding part, so that the load generated around the male connector main body can be efficiently reduced. can be reduced.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the receiving portion may have a pair of guide surfaces facing each other with an interval in the width direction so as to guide the protrusion in the insertion/extraction direction. According to such a configuration, it is possible to efficiently reduce the load generated around the male connector main body due to the operation of connecting and disconnecting the connection port and the male connector main body.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the receiving portion and the protruding portion may each have a symmetrical shape with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the width direction and passes through the center of the connector in the width direction. According to this configuration, the relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector can be more efficiently regulated by the contact between the receiving part and the protruding part, so that the load generated around the male connector main body can be efficiently reduced. can be reduced.

The energy harvesting body as a second aspect of the present invention is a plate-shaped energy harvesting body having an outer periphery on which a female connector or a male connector is provided, and the female connector has a connection port provided with a terminal, and an insertion/removal of the connection port. The male connector has a pair of wall surfaces facing each other with an interval in the thickness direction while being connected to the base end side in the direction, and the male connector includes a terminal connected to the terminal of the connection port and is removably connected to the connection port. It has a male connector main body, and a male connector main body support part that is connected to the proximal end side of the male connector main body in the insertion/extraction direction and is sandwiched between a pair of wall surfaces at both side parts that are outside the male connector main body in the width direction, The pair of wall surfaces has one of a receiving portion and a protruding portion that abuts the receiving portion on both sides in the width direction, and the male connector main body support portion has the other of the receiving portion and the protruding portion. According to such a configuration, by sandwiching the male connector body supporting portion between the pair of walls at both side portions that are outside the male connector body in the width direction, the center axis of the male connector body along the insertion/extraction direction is Since the relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector can be efficiently restricted, loads such as impact loads caused by rattling in the direction of relative rotation can be reduced. In addition, since the male connector main body support part has a wider width than the male connector main body, it is possible to avoid damage to the male connector main body support part, which is the peripheral part of the male connector main body, and It is possible to relieve the stress generated on the outer periphery of the continuous energy harvesting body and reduce the load. In addition, the relative rotation of the male connector to the female connector about the central axis of the male connector main body along the thickness direction is efficiently regulated by the contact between the receiving part and the protruding part, which are arranged apart from the center of rotation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce loads such as impact loads caused by wobbling in the relative rotation direction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector and an energy harvesting body that can reduce the load on the periphery of a male connector main body.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of an energy harvesting body and an external device to which a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a side view of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is another side view of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the external device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a side view of the external device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the energy harvesting body shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of the energy harvesting body shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a rear view of a modification of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a rear view of another modification of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a rear view of another modification of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a side view of another modification of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a side view of another modification of the energy harvesting body and external device shown in FIG. 1;

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, connectors and energy harvesting bodies according to various embodiments of the present invention will be illustrated in detail with reference to the drawings.

A connector 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is composed of a female connector 2 and a male connector 3. The male connector 3 is provided on the outer periphery of the plate-shaped energy harvesting body 4. The female connector 2 is provided on an external device 5 of the energy harvesting body 4. The external device 5 is an electrical device such as a lighting device, a speaker, a blower device, a display device, an electric toy, a power supply device, etc., which operates by charging an internal power source (not shown) using power supplied from the energy harvesting unit 4. , but not limited to this. For example, the external device 5 may be an electric machine that does not have an internal power source and is operated by power supplied from the energy harvesting body 4, or it may be a device other than an electric machine, such as another energy harvesting body or power transmission wiring. There may be. Further, the female connector 2 may be provided on the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body 4 and the male connector 3 may be provided on the external device 5.

The energy harvesting body 4 is configured as a solar cell module having a solar cell that converts light energy such as sunlight or indoor light into electrical energy, but is not limited to this, and can also convert thermal energy such as geothermal energy into electrical energy. It may be configured as a thermoelectric conversion module having a thermoelectric converter for converting.

Although the energy harvesting body 4 has a flat plate shape, it is not limited thereto and may have a curved plate shape. The energy harvesting body 4 has a substantially rectangular plate shape, but is not limited thereto, and may have a substantially triangular, polygonal, circular, or elliptical plate shape, for example. A power generation region 6 in which a plurality of solar cells are arranged in an appropriate arrangement pattern is provided inside the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body 4. Note that FIG. 1 shows the back surface 8 of the energy harvesting body 4, which is the surface opposite to the incident light surface 7. The energy harvesting body 4 may have the flexibility to be easily bent as a whole, or may have the rigidity to not be easily bent as a whole. Although not shown, the energy harvesting body 4 may have a frame-shaped portion in which the outer peripheral edge and the male connector main body support portion 14 (described later) are thickened in order to increase the overall rigidity. The outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body 4 and the male connector main body support part 14 have outermost layers made of synthetic resin on the incident light surface 7 side and the back surface 8 side, respectively, but the invention is not limited to this. In addition, a conductive member etc. which connect the power generation area 6 and the terminal 12 mentioned later are provided between these outermost layers.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the female connector 2 is connected to a connection port 10 having a terminal 9 on the base end side of the connection port 10 in the insertion/extraction direction, that is, in the negative direction of the X axis, and in the thickness direction, that is, in the Z axis direction. It has a pair of wall surfaces 11 facing each other with an interval between them.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6 to 7, the male connector 3 includes a terminal 12 that is connected to the terminal 9 of the connection port 10, and a male connector body 13 that is removably connected to the connection port 10. have. Further, the male connector 3 is sandwiched between the pair of wall surfaces 11 at both side portions 14a that are connected to the proximal end side of the male connector body 13 in the insertion/extraction direction and are outside the male connector body 13 in the width direction, that is, the Y-axis direction. It has a male connector main body support part 14. Note that the width direction means a direction perpendicular to both the insertion/removal direction of the connector 1 and the thickness direction of the energy harvesting body 4.

The terminal 9 is provided at the distal end of the connection port 10 in the insertion/extraction direction, that is, the end in the positive X-axis direction, and correspondingly, the terminal 12 is provided at the end of the male connector main body 13 on the distal end side in the insertion/extraction direction. Yes, but not limited to this. The terminal 9 consists of a pair of partial terminals 9a consisting of a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, and the terminal 12 consists of a pair of partial terminals 12a consisting of a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the terminal 9 is mounted on the substrate 15 of the external device 5, the present invention is not limited thereto. The male connector main body 13 is removably connected to the connection port 10 by, for example, engagement between projections and recesses (not shown), but the present invention is not limited to this, and the male connector main body 13 may be removably connected to the connection port 10 by, for example, frictional force, or removable by magnetic force. May be connected.

The male connector main body support portion 14 is held between the pair of wall surfaces 11 not only at both side portions 14a but also at a portion between both side portions 14a, but is not limited to this. It may also be a configuration in which it is maintained. Note that "sandwiching" means that the male connector body support part 14 is supported by the pair of wall surfaces 11 so that relative movement of the male connector body support part 14 in the thickness direction with respect to the pair of wall surfaces 11 is restricted. ing. That is, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the pair of wall surfaces 11 sandwich the male connector main body support portion 14 with a predetermined force.

The male connector main body support portion 14 widens toward the base end side in the insertion/extraction direction. That is, the interval between the widthwise both side edges 14b of the male connector main body support portion 14 increases toward the base end side in the insertion/extraction direction. The external device 5 has a pair of support surfaces 16 that are in contact with both widthwise side edges 14b of the male connector main body support portion 14 and that face each other with an interval in the width direction. Although the distance between the pair of support surfaces 16 increases toward the proximal end in the insertion/extraction direction, it is not limited thereto. A configuration in which the pair of support surfaces 16 is not provided may be used.

Although the male connector main body support part 14 has the same thickness as the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body 4, the thickness is not limited thereto. The male connector body 13 has a thickness smaller than that of the male connector body support part 14, thereby forming a step 17 with respect to the male connector body support part 14 on both the incident light surface 7 side and the back surface 8 side. . Correspondingly, the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped connection port 10 forms a step 18 with respect to the wall surface 11 on both the incident light surface 7 side and the back surface 8 side. However, the step 17 of the male connector main body 13 and the step 18 of the connection port 10 may be formed only on one of the incident light surface 7 side and the back surface 8 side, or a configuration may be adopted in which they are not provided. The male connector main body 13 has a substantially rectangular plate shape elongated in the width direction, and the connection port 10 is formed of a hole corresponding to this shape, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The external device 5 has a generally disk-shaped housing 19 that forms a connection port 10, a pair of wall surfaces 11, and a pair of support surfaces 16. The pair of wall surfaces 11 and the pair of support surfaces 16 are each continuous with the outer peripheral edge of the housing 19. Note that the shape of the housing 19 is not limited to a substantially disk shape. The housing 19 is made of synthetic resin, for example.

The pair of wall surfaces 11 have receiving portions 20, and the male connector main body support portion 14 has protruding portions 21 that abut the receiving portions 20 on both sides in the width direction. The receiving portion 20 is configured with only one slit 20a elongated in the insertion/extraction direction, but is not limited to this, and includes, for example, two or more slits 20a, one or more grooves, one or more depressions, one or more It may also be configured with a through hole or the like. Although the protrusion 21 is composed of only one protrusion 21a that is elongated in the insertion/extraction direction, the protrusion 21 is not limited thereto, and may be composed of, for example, two or more protrusions 21a, one or more bosses, or the like. The length of the protrusion 21a in the insertion/extraction direction is equal to the length of the slit 20a in the insertion/extraction direction, but is not limited thereto. The protrusion 21a is not limited to an elongated shape in the insertion/extraction direction. Furthermore, for example, two or more protrusions 21a or bosses may be provided in one slit 20a, groove, depression, or through hole so as to abut on both sides in the width direction as a whole.

The pair of wall surfaces 11 may have the protruding portion 21 and the male connector main body support portion 14 may have the receiving portion 20. Although the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 are provided only on the back surface 8 side, they may be provided only on the incident light surface 7 side, or may be provided on both the back surface 8 side and the incident light surface 7 side. .

The receiving portion 20 and the protruding portion 21 each have a symmetrical shape with respect to a plane P that is perpendicular to the width direction and passes through the center of the connector 1 in the width direction, but the shape is not limited to this.

Although the protrusion 21 has a width W larger than the thickness T of the energy harvesting body 4, the width W is not limited thereto. Although the receiving part 20 has a pair of guide surfaces 22 facing each other with an interval in the width direction so as to guide the protruding part 21 in the insertion/extraction direction, the guide surface 22 is not limited thereto.

According to the connector 1 according to the present embodiment, by sandwiching the male connector main body support part 14 between the pair of wall surfaces 11 at both side portions 14a that are outside the male connector main body 13 in the width direction, the male Since the relative rotation of the male connector 3 with respect to the female connector 2 around the central axis O1 (see FIG. 3) of the connector body 13 can be effectively regulated, impact loads caused by wobbling in the direction of relative rotation, etc. load can be reduced. Furthermore, since the male connector main body support part 14 has a wider width than the male connector main body 13, the male connector which is the peripheral part of the male connector main body 13, which is generated when the male connector main body 13 is connected to and disconnected from the connection port 10, etc. It is possible to relieve the stress generated on the main body support part 14 and the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body 4 that is continuous thereto, and to reduce the load. In addition, the relative rotation of the male connector 3 with respect to the female connector 2 about the central axis O2 (see FIG. 1) of the male connector main body 13 along the thickness direction is controlled by the receiving part 20 and the protruding part located apart from the center of rotation. Since it can be efficiently regulated by contact with 21, it is possible to reduce loads such as impact loads caused by wobbling in the relative rotation direction.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the male connector 3 is provided on the outer periphery of the energy harvesting body 4, it is possible to reduce the load generated on the outer periphery of the energy harvesting body 4, which is a part of the periphery of the male connector main body 13. can.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the male connector body support part 14 is widened toward the base end side in the insertion/extraction direction, stress transmitted from the male connector body support part 14 to the peripheral part of the male connector body 13 can be dispersed. Therefore, the load generated around the male connector main body 13 can be efficiently reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, since the protruding part 21 has a width W larger than the thickness T of the energy harvesting body 4, the contact between the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 causes the male connector 3 to move relative to the female connector 2. Since the rotation can be regulated more efficiently, the load generated around the male connector main body 13 can be efficiently reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the receiving portion 20 has the pair of guide surfaces 22, the load generated around the male connector body 13 due to the connection and disconnection operations between the connection port 10 and the male connector body 13 can be efficiently reduced. can be reduced to

Further, in this embodiment, the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 each have a symmetrical shape with respect to the plane P that is perpendicular to the width direction and passing through the center of the width direction of the connector 1, so that the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 are Since the relative rotation of the male connector 3 with respect to the female connector 2 can be more efficiently restricted by the contact, the load generated around the male connector main body 13 can be efficiently reduced.

The various embodiments described above are merely examples of the embodiments of the present invention, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 may be composed of two slits 20a lined up in the width direction and two protrusions 21a arranged one each corresponding to the slits 20a. As shown in FIG. 9, it may be configured with three slits 20a lined up in the width direction and three protrusions 21a arranged one by one corresponding to these slits 20a. According to such a configuration, the relative rotation of the male connector 3 with respect to the female connector 2 can be more efficiently regulated by the contact between the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 10, the receiving part 20 and the protrusion part 21 may be comprised of only one slit 20a and two protrusions 21a lined up in the insertion/extraction direction. According to such a configuration, it is possible to make the protrusion 21 small and inconspicuous, thereby improving the appearance design. Note that the shape, size, and number of the protrusions 21a can be changed as appropriate. The number of protrusions may be one.

As shown in FIG. 11, the receiving portion 20 and the protruding portion 21 may be provided not on the back surface 8 side but on the incident light surface 7 side. According to such a configuration, since the protrusion 21 can be visually observed naturally, the connection operation between the connection port 10 and the male connector main body 13 can be easily performed.

As shown in FIG. 12, the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 may be provided with the protruding part 21 on the pair of wall surfaces 11, and with the receiving part 20 formed of a groove on the male connector main body support part 14. According to such a configuration, the receiving part 20 and the protruding part 21 can be made inconspicuous, thereby improving the appearance design. Note that the receiving portion 20 may be formed of, for example, a depression instead of a groove.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector and an energy harvesting body that can reduce the load on the periphery of a male connector main body.

1 Connector 2 Female connector 3 Male connector 4 Energy harvesting body 5 External device 6 Power generation area 7 Incident light surface 8 Back surface 9 Terminal 9a Partial terminal 10 Connection port 11 Wall surface 12 Terminal 12a Partial terminal 13 Male connector main body 14 Male connector main body support part 14a Both side portions 14b Width side edges 15 Board 16 Support surfaces 17, 18 Step 19 Housing 20 Receiving portion 20a Slit 21 Projection portion 21a Projection 22 Guide surface P Plane T Thickness W Width O1, O2 Center axis

Claims (6)

It is composed of a female connector and a male connector, and the male connector is a connector provided on the outer periphery of a plate-shaped energy harvesting body,
The female connector has a connection port provided with a terminal, and a pair of wall surfaces that are connected to the proximal end side of the connection port in the insertion/extraction direction and face each other with an interval in the thickness direction,
The male connector has a terminal connected to the terminal of the connection port, and a male connector main body that is removably connected to the connection port, and a male connector main body that is connected to the proximal end side of the male connector main body in the insertion/extraction direction and is connected in the width direction. and a male connector body support portion that is held between the pair of wall surfaces at both side portions that are outside the male connector body,
The pair of wall surfaces have the receiving portion that is one of a receiving portion and a protruding portion that abuts the receiving portion on both sides in the width direction,
The male connector main body support part has the other of the receiving part and the protruding part,
Relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector about a central axis of the male connector main body along the thickness direction is regulated by contact between the receiving portion and the protruding portion, which are arranged apart from the center of rotation. death,
The entire portion of the male connector main body support part other than the protruding part has the same thickness as the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body,
The male connector main body has a thickness smaller than the entire portion of the male connector main body support portion other than the protruding portion . The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the male connector main body support section widens toward the proximal end side in the insertion/extraction direction. The connector according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the protrusion has a width greater than a thickness of the energy harvesting body. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the receiving portion has a pair of guide surfaces facing each other with an interval in the width direction so as to guide the protruding portion in the insertion/extraction direction. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the receiving portion and the protruding portion each have a symmetrical shape with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the width direction and passes through the center of the connector in the width direction. A plate-shaped energy harvesting body having an outer peripheral edge on which the male connector, which is one of a female connector and a male connector, is provided,
The female connector has a connection port provided with a terminal, and a pair of wall surfaces that are connected to the proximal end side of the connection port in the insertion/extraction direction and face each other with an interval in the thickness direction,
The male connector has a terminal connected to the terminal of the connection port, and a male connector main body that is removably connected to the connection port, and a male connector main body that is connected to the proximal end side of the male connector main body in the insertion/extraction direction and is connected in the width direction. and a male connector body support portion that is held between the pair of wall surfaces at both side portions that are outside the male connector body,
The pair of wall surfaces has the receiving portion that is one of a receiving portion and a protruding portion that abuts the receiving portion on both sides in the width direction,
The male connector main body support part has the other of the receiving part and the protruding part,
Relative rotation of the male connector with respect to the female connector about a central axis of the male connector main body along the thickness direction is regulated by contact between the receiving part and the protruding part, which are arranged apart from the center of rotation. death,
The entire portion of the male connector main body support portion other than the protruding portion has the same thickness as the outer peripheral edge of the energy harvesting body,
The male connector main body is an energy harvesting body having a thickness smaller than the entire portion of the male connector main body support portion other than the protruding portion .

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