JPH01286277A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain good feeling of fitting and prevent fitting connector from slipping out by adjusting the stiffness of locking arm freely, through sliding contact spacer. CONSTITUTION:A port 15 to be engaged at the tip of a cantilever locking arm 14, which is formed in the recess of the sliding surface of a male type housing, is inserted into the engaging part of a female housing to provide connection of an electric connector. The stiffness of the arm 14 is practically adjusted by changing support point of the arm 14 by the spacer 18 when a spacer 18 which is slided along the recess 12 is moved. Therefore, the stiffness of the arm 14 is increased by moving a spacer 16 so that good fitting feeling is obtained at the time of connection, and slipping off of a connector after the connection is prevented, also disconnection can be made easily.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector in which a male housing is fitted into and removed from a female housing, and which locks the fitted state. ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HAVING.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a recess is formed on the outer surface of a male housing that can be fitted into and removed from a female housing, and the recess extends from the base end of the recess to the front end, and serves as an engaging part for an engaged part provided on the female housing. A connector is known (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 12458/1983), which has a bridge-like locking arm supported at three points on the outer surface of the male housing. It is also known that the locking arm is provided with an engaging part that engages and disengages the engaging part provided on the female housing with an engaged part provided on the female housing (for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-3900). (see issue).

In any of the above-mentioned prior arts, when the male housing is slidably fitted into the female housing, the locking arm is pressed against the inner surface of the female housing in the movement range of the arm against its elasticity, and the locking arm is pressed against the inner surface of the female housing in the movement range of the arm. At the same time as the locking arm is released, the engaging portion of the locking arm is engaged with the engaged portion of the female housing.

The engagement is released by artificially pressing the locking arm against its elasticity.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In a connector having this type of locking means, it is preferable to change the so-called mating feeling, which is a state in which the housings of the male and female connectors are securely mated or detects that the housings are mated. One possible solution would be to make the rigidity of the locking arm relatively high, but this would inevitably make it difficult to separate the engaging portion of the locking arm from the engaged portion.

Furthermore, due to poor molding of the housing, the locking arm moves to the bottom of the recess, making it easy to pull out.

[Means to solve the problem]

The connector of the present invention achieves the above object.

A recess is formed in one of the relative sliding surfaces of the two housings when the male housing is inserted into and removed from the female housing, and the recess has a fulcrum that is integrally continuous with one end of the recess, and has a fulcrum that is connected to the inner circumferential surface of the recess. The present invention is directed to a connector including an elastic locking arm that extends toward the other end of the recess apart from the bottom surface and that is provided with an engaging portion for an engaged portion provided on the other of the relative sliding surfaces.

A spacer that is slidable in the length direction of the arm is interposed between the lower surface of the locking arm and the bottom surface of the recess, and the spacer extends from both sides of the locking arm to both side edges of the locking arm and the inner circumferential surface of the recess. It has a sliding operation piece that protrudes onto the recess through each space of the recess.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a guide groove is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the recess, and elastic protrusions are formed on both sides of the spacer, and the elastic protrusion is formed on the guide groove. The edges are slidably inserted.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the free end of the locking arm has a bent portion toward the bottom surface of the recess. In this embodiment, a portion of the spacer is positioned between the bent portion of the locking arm and the bottom surface of the recess.

The housing provided with the locking arm is usually a male housing, but may be a female housing as the case may be.

[Effect]

In the connector according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, when the spacer is slid forward in the direction of the engaging portion of the locking arm, a second fulcrum that supports the locking arm is generated.

Therefore, when the male and female housings are fitted together and the engaging portion is engaged with the engaged portion, the rigidity of the locking arm portion between the second fulcrum and the engaging portion is increased. As a result, the fitting resistance between the two housings increases, and the fitting feeling changes according to the resistance. On the other hand, when the spacer is slid back in a direction away from the engaging portion, the rigidity of the locking arm returns to its original state, and as a result, the resistance to detachment of both the housings becomes weaker than that during the metal forming.

[Embodiment]

The connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1-3, a first embodiment of the invention is shown.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 10 is of a male type, and is slid into and removed from a female housing (not shown) in which contacts are arranged and loaded. The male housing 10 is molded from synthetic resin and has a plurality of cavities 11 in which contacts (not shown) for electrical connection with the contacts of the female housing are arranged and loaded.

The male housing 10 also has a recess 12 formed in the center of the upper surface of the housing. The recess 12 is formed with an elastic locking arm 14 that is integrally continuous with one end of the recess and extends forward away from the inner circumferential surface and bottom surface of the recess. This locking arm 14 has an engaging portion 15 on the upper surface of the free end of the arm that engages with and disengages from an engaged portion (not shown) provided on the female housing, and an approximately central portion of the arm. Suppression operation unit 1 protruding from
6 is formed.

A guide groove 17 is formed on the inner surface of the bottom surface of the recess 12 along the bottom surface.

In FIG. 2, a spacer, which is a characteristic member of the present invention, is shown. This spacer 18 includes a sliding operation piece 19 made of synthetic resin and standing up from both sides, a receiving part 20 between the re-operation pieces, and a sliding base plate 21 extending forward from the lower surface of the operation piece. have

A strip hole 22 is formed on both sides of the front end of this substrate 21, thereby forming an elastic protrusion 23.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the spacer 18 is slidably fitted into the recess 12 of the male housing 10. As shown in FIGS. In this fitted state, the protruding edge 23 of the base plate 21 is inserted into the guide groove 17 of the recess 12 against its elasticity, and from between the inner circumferential surface of the recess 12 and both side edges of the locking arm 14. The sliding operation piece 19 is the upper wall 1 of the male housing 10.
3, and the locking arm is located between the reoperation pieces.

Although not shown, temporary fixing recesses with which the protruding edges 23 engage are formed at predetermined intervals in the length direction of both guide grooves 17, so that when the spacer 18 moves forward and backward in the recess 12, A predetermined position is maintained.

In the first embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration, for example, as shown in FIG.
When mating to the female housing (not shown), move the spacer 18 from the chain line position to the solid line position (in the direction of arrow 26).
Slide it forward and position it. In this position, the fulcrum that makes the locking arm 14 function is the spacer 18.
It becomes the receiving part 20 of.

Therefore, the spacer 18 does not intervene in the locking arm 14, and the fulcrum that makes the locking arm 14 function is
The locking arm 14 where the engaging portion 15 is located is compared to the case where the arm is located at one end of the continuous recess 12, that is, the continuous portion 25 between the arm and the housing body.
The rigidity of the vicinity of is increased.

Therefore, the resistance when fitting the male housing 10 into the female housing is strong. On the other hand, male housing l
When removing the O from the female housing, use the spacer 18.
from the solid line position to the chain line position! When the locking arm 14 is slid back (in the direction of arrow 27), the rigidity of the locking arm 14 and the resistance of the male housing 10 to the female housing return to their original state.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4-6.

In the male housing 110 shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a bent portion 114a is formed at the free end of the locking arm 114, and the guide groove 117 of the recess 112 is located slightly above the bottom surface of the recess. The male housing 10 is substantially the same as the male housing 10 shown in FIG. 1, except that the cavity 111. Engaging portion 115 and pressing operation portion 1
It also has 16.

In FIG. 5, a spacer 118 molded from synthetic resin is shown. This spacer 118 is formed into a plate-like body so that a portion of the spacer 18 corresponding to the substrate 21 functions as a spacer.

A sliding operation piece 119 protrudes from both sides of one end of the plate-like body.

In the second embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration, for example, as shown in FIG.
0 female housing (not shown),
Move the spacer 118 from the chain line position to the solid line position! Slide it forward (in the direction of arrow 26) and position it. In this position, the fulcrums that make the locking arm 114 function are the one end 125 of the arm and the bent portion 114a of the free end of the arm.
Located in . Therefore, the spacer 118 is not interposed in the locking arm 114, and the locking arm 114
Compared to the case where the fulcrum for functioning is located only at the one end 125, the rigidity of the portion near the locking arm 114 where the engaging portion 115 is located is increased. therefore,
The resistance when fitting the male housing 110 into the female housing is increased. On the other hand, when the male housing 110 is removed from the female housing, if the spacer 118 is slid back from the solid line position to the chain line position (arrow 27 direction), the rigidity of the locking arm 114 and the male housing The fitting resistance of 110 to the female housing returns to its original state.

Although not shown, the plate-shaped body of the spacer 118 also includes
Like the substrate 21 of the spacer 18, a portion corresponding to the elastic protrusion 23 may be formed by the strip hole 22.

The height of the receiving portion 20 of the spacer 18 in the first embodiment and the thickness (height) of the plate-shaped body of the spacer 118 in the second embodiment are as follows:
As long as 4 is formed to a predetermined height, it is preferable that the dimensions are such that they are not forced upward.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the connector according to the present invention having the above configuration and operation, when the housing provided with the spacer is fitted into the mating housing, the spacer is slidably advanced in the direction of the engaging portion provided thereon. By increasing the rigidity of the locking arm of the housing provided with the spacer, a sufficient fitting feeling can be obtained. Moreover, the holding force after fitting is strengthened and guaranteed. Therefore, even if an external force is applied to the locking arm during the fitting operation, for example, the engaging portion may not be engaged with the engaged portion of the mating housing due to erroneous pressure by an operator, in other words. , the locks of both housings are never released.

On the other hand, when the spacer is slid back in a direction away from the engaging portion, the rigidity decreases, so that the engaging and unfitting operations can be easily performed. Furthermore, even if the predetermined height of the locking arm becomes low due to poor molding of the housing, the predetermined height can be given to the locking arm.

In addition, since the elastic protrusions provided on both sides of the spacer are inserted into the guide grooves provided on the inner circumferential surface of the recess in which the spacer is located, sliding operation of the spacer is easy; The spacer that has been slid to a predetermined position does not move from the predetermined position to another position.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows the first connector housing according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a spacer used in the housing shown in the first diagram. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction of the housing shown in the first figure. FIG. 4 shows a second connector housing according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a spacer used in the housing shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the housing shown in FIG. 4; 10, 110... Housing 12, 112... Recessed portions 14, 114... Locking arm 115... Engaging portion 17, 117... Guide groove 18, 118... Spacer 19, 119...・Sliding scraping piece 114a...Bending portion FIG, 1 20 Io 21 FIG, 4

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A recess is formed in one of the relative sliding surfaces of the two housings when the male housing is inserted into and removed from the female housing, and a fulcrum is integrally continuous at one end of the recess, and both sides of the recess are An electrical connector comprising an elastic locking arm that extends toward the other end of the recess apart from the inner surface and the bottom surface, and is provided with an engaging portion for an engaged portion provided on the other of the relative sliding surfaces. A spacer that is slidable in the length direction of the arm is interposed between the lower surface of the locking arm and the bottom surface of the recess, and the spacer extends from both sides of the locking arm and both sides of the recess. The connector as described above has a sliding operation piece that projects onto the recess through each space between the connector and the inner surface. (2) guide grooves are formed on both inner surfaces of the recess, while elastic protrusions are formed on both sides of the spacer;
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the elastic protrusion is slidably inserted into the guide groove. (3) The connector according to claim 1, wherein the free end of the locking arm has a bent portion toward the bottom of the recess. (4) The connector according to claim 3, wherein a portion of the spacer is located between the bent portion of the locking arm and the bottom surface of the recess.