JPH0353754B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention finds application in the technical field of electrical connectors, and more particularly relates to a locking mechanism for a rotating cylindrical sleeve.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a locking mechanism of this type of electrical connector, one disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,506,943 is known. In this known locking mechanism, the size of the sleeve in the radial direction can be made smaller than that of a screw-type locking mechanism or a bayonet-type locking mechanism, and the rotation angle of the sleeve can also be small, resulting in a compact size. In addition, the electrical connector can be quickly inserted and removed, and furthermore, the use of a cam ring allows the sleeve to rotate smoothly.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional electrical connector as described above has the following problems.

That is, since the number of parts is large and the structure is complicated, it is difficult to process and assemble each part, making mass production impossible and resulting in high costs.

In the case of a multi-pole connector, the mating force of the contacts is large, but the connector cannot be inserted or removed by rotating the sleeve, unlike conventional screw-type or bayonet-type lock mechanisms. Therefore, it is difficult to use it in a multi-pole connector because it can be inserted and pulled out using only manual force.

(Means and effects for solving the problems) The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems as described above,
The object of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism for an electrical connector that has a simple structure and is small in size.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a main body block formed by an insulating housing for arranging and holding a contact and a cylindrical shell containing the insulating housing, Further, on the outer periphery of the main body block, there are provided a first ring and a second ring having cam portions that cooperate with each other, and a spring member that allows the first ring and the second ring to be elastically movable in the height direction. Further, a cylindrical sleeve is provided on the outer periphery of each of the rings and spring members and is engaged and held so as to be rotatable around the main body block,
The sleeve is provided with a locking portion for engaging and locking the locking portion of the other connector, and the cam portion of each ring is rotated in the height direction of the two matched rings by rotation of the sleeve. The pair of connectors are lockingly engaged by changing the arrangement within a certain range against the elastic force of the spring member.

According to the present invention as described above, by simply rotating the sleeve by a certain angle, the cam surfaces that cooperate with each other change the combined height dimension of both rings, and the elasticity of the spring member is accordingly changed. As the force fluctuates, this causes locking and unlocking.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on FIGS. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the electrical connectors of FIG. 1 connected as a pair and just before locking. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lock in the intermediate state toward locking, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lock in Figure 2 after it has been locked, and Figures 5 A to E are views of the lock section expanded in the circumferential direction. , is a schematic diagram showing each stage of the lock operation.

The electrical connector of this embodiment is composed of a plug 100 and a receptacle 200, and the plug 100 has a main body block 10, a sleeve 30, a first ring 40, a second ring 50, a wave spring 60, and a spring ring 70. are doing.

The main body block 10 includes a substantially cylindrical shell 11 made of a metal material, an insulating housing 20 made of an insulating material inside the shell 11, and a plurality of male contacts 25 arranged and held in the insulating housing 20. have.

The shell 11 is formed into a substantially cylindrical shape,
The coupling part 12 to be inserted into the shell 210 of the receptacle 200 is provided at the front part (the lower part in the figure; hereinafter, the side facing the mating connector is referred to as the front part or front part), and the sleeve 30 and the ring-shaped part are provided at the middle part. A rear end portion 14 has a flange portion 13 for locking the first ring 40, and a screw portion 15 for screwing a cable clamp member (not shown) for holding the cable at the rear (upper portion). Each of them has the following. A plurality of guide protrusions 16 are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the joint portion 12, and the rear end portion 14
A vertical groove 18 is formed from the flange portion 13 to the flange portion 13. In addition, in the inner space 19 of the shell 11,
An insulating housing 20 in which a male contact 25 is arranged is held.

The sleeve 30 is made of a metal material and has a substantially cylindrical shape, and its inner peripheral surface is composed of a front part 31 and a rear part 32. The front part 31 has a shell 210 of the receptacle 200 at its tip. Approximately triangular lock protrusions 33 for locking engagement are provided at multiple positions in the circumferential direction, and a wide first circumferential groove 34 and a wide second circumferential groove 3 are provided in the rear part 32.
5 is formed, and a plurality of vertical grooves 36 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the lock protrusion 33 is formed with a long slope part 33' and a short slope part 33''. A knurling portion 37 is provided for this purpose.

The first ring 40 is preferably made of a hard insulating material or a metal material, and has a top portion 41, a steep slope portion 42, a gentle slope portion 43, and a bottom portion 4.
4 and a plurality of cam portions 45 in the circumferential direction. Furthermore, an inner protrusion 4 protruding from the inner circumference of the ring
6 is provided.

The second ring 50 may be the same as the first ring 40 except that an outer protrusion 56 protruding from the outer periphery is provided in place of the inner protrusion 46, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. However, in use, both rings 40 and 50 are arranged so that their cam portions face each other.

The wave spring 60 is preferably made of a springy hard insulating material or a metal material.
As shown in the figure, it is a corrugated annular plate.

The spring ring 70 is preferably constructed of a springy hard insulating material or a metal material, and is shaped like a ring with a notch at one point, as best shown in FIG.

The receptacle 200 mainly includes a shell 210, an insulating housing 220, and a female contact 230.

The shell 210 is made of metal material,
It has a substantially cylindrical shape except for a square flange 217 provided at the middle part of the outside, and a circumferential protrusion 211 is provided at the outer front end (upper end) of the flange 217. , a circumferential groove 213 is formed. A plurality of longitudinal grooves 211' are formed in the circumferential protrusion 211, and one side surface of the longitudinal groove 211' has an inclination angle that is the same as the inclination angle of the long slope portion 33' of the lock protrusion 33 of the sleeve 30. , and below the inclined portion 214,
A locking portion 215 is formed as a hook-shaped groove for lockingly engaging the locking protrusion 33 of the sleeve 30. Further, on the other side of the longitudinal groove 211', a second sloped part 216 is provided in a spiral shape with the same sloped angle as the short sloped part 33'' of the lock protrusion 33 of the sleeve 30. A guide recess 218 for receiving the guide protrusion 16 of the shell 11 is provided on the inner side of the front end at a position corresponding to the guide protrusion 16 of the shell 11, and an insulating housing 22 is provided on the inner side of the front end.
An internal space 219 for holding 0 is formed. A rectangular flange portion 217 provided at the outer middle portion of the shell 210 has screw holes 2 for fixing it to a mounting panel (not shown) with screws.
17' is bored.

The procedure for assembling the connector configured as described above is as follows.

First, the first ring 40 is inserted from above the shell 11 of the main body block 10. At this time, the locking protrusion 46 of the first ring 40 is aligned with the longitudinal groove 18 of the shell 11 and inserted up to the flange portion 13.

Next, the second ring 50 is inserted into the shell 11 at the position shown in FIG. 1 in the same manner as the first ring. At that time, the outer protrusion 56 of the second ring 50
are inserted into the sleeve 30 so as to be aligned with the longitudinal groove 36 of the sleeve 30. Then, the wave spring 60 is inserted from above.

Next, the vertical groove 36 of the sleeve 30 is aligned with the outer protrusion 56 of the second ring 50, and the second ring 50 is inserted from below. At that time, the sleeve 30 is slightly rotated so that the cam portions 45, 55 of the first and second rings 40, 50 are engaged with each other to minimize the height of the first and second rings 40, 50. .

And finally, the second circumferential groove 3 of the sleeve 30
5, the spring ring 70 is inserted from above and locked to complete the process.

For the connector thus assembled,
The first ring 40 has an inner protrusion 4 in the circumferential direction.
6 is locked in the vertical groove 18 of the shell 11 and the sleeve 3
It is designed to be able to rotate within 0. On the other hand, the second ring 50 is rotatable with respect to the shell 11 in the circumferential direction, and the outer protrusion 56 is engaged with the longitudinal groove 36 of the sleeve.

The operation of the locking mechanism of the connector assembled in this manner will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

First, the plug 100 is fitted into the receptacle 200. At this time, the first ring 40 and the second ring 50 are connected to the cam portions 45, 55 as shown in FIG.
are interlocked to minimize height. Therefore, the height of the wave spring 60 is maximized. As disclosed in Figure 5A,
First ramp 21 of receptacle shell 210
4, the locking protrusion 33 of the sleeve 30 abuts.

Next, when the main body block 10 is pushed slightly downward by hand, the lock protrusion 33 rotates and descends along the first slope 214, as shown in FIG. 5B. 3
0 is also rotated and the second ring 50, which is integral with the sleeve 30, is also rotated. At this time, the first ring 40 is locked to the shell 11 in the circumferential direction, and the second ring 50 rotates together with the sleeve 30, so each cam portion 4
5 and 55 come out of the meshed state and approach the tops 41 and 51 of each other as shown in FIG. As a result, the wave spring 60 is compressed, its height becomes minimum, and its spring elastic force becomes strong.

Then, when the main body block 10 is further pushed downward by hand, the lock protrusion 33 is removed from the tip of the first inclined part 214 in the next instant and is locked into locking engagement with the lock part 215 as shown in FIG. 5C. Ru. That is, the sleeve 30, the first ring 40
The second ring 50 is rotated in the opposite direction by the force of the cam, and the lock protrusion 33 engages the lock portion 2.
15 and is returned to its original position, as shown in FIG. 4, to be in the locked state.

Next, to release the locked state, first rotate the sleeve 30 by hand in the rotational direction. As shown in Fig. 5D, the lock protrusion 3
3 abuts against the spiral second inclined portion 216.

Next, when the sleeve 30 is further rotated by hand in the rotational direction, the lock protrusion 33 is guided along the spiral second inclined part 216 and rises while rotating. ring 40
The tops 41 and 51 of the second ring 50 rotate over each other, and further,
Cam portion 4 of first ring 40 and second ring 50
5 and 55 are returned to their original positions, and as a result, the locking engagement is released. At this time, the lock protrusion 33 rotates and rises along the spiral second inclined part 216, so that even a multi-pole connector with a strong fitting force can be easily pulled out.

In the above embodiment, the lock protrusion 33 has a substantially triangular shape, but is not limited to this and may have a round shape.

Further, in the above embodiment, the sleeve of the plug connector is provided with a locking protrusion, and the shell of a receptacle connector is provided with a spiral inclined portion, a locking groove, etc., but the present invention is not limited to this, and the reverse is also possible. It is. That is, the sloped part on the inside of the sleeve,
A locking groove can be formed with a locking protrusion on the shell of the receptacle.

(Effects of the Invention) The locking mechanism of the electrical connector of the present invention is as described above, and provides the following effects.

The number of parts is smaller than before, the structure is simpler, processing and assembly are easier, and mass production is possible, which can significantly reduce costs.

The lock protrusion of the sleeve is guided along the spiral second inclined part and rotates upwards, making it easy to pull out even with a multi-pole connector that has a strong mating force, making it easy to use. get well.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the electrical connectors of FIG. 1 connected as a pair and just before locking. FIG. is a sectional view of the one in Fig. 2 while it is moving towards the lock, Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the one in Fig. 2 after it has been locked, and Figs. 5 A to E are the lock parts expanded in the circumferential direction. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing each stage of a lock operation. 100...One connector (plug connector),
10...Main block, 11...Ciel, 20...
...Insulating housing, 30...Sleeve, 40...
First ring, 50... Second ring, 60... Spring member (wave spring), 200... Other connector (receptacle connector), 214...
... Spiral inclined part (first inclined part), 216... Spiral inclined part (second inclined part).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A pair of mating connectors, one of which has a main body block formed by an insulating housing for arranging and holding a contact and a cylindrical shell containing the insulating housing. Further, on the outer periphery of the main body block, there are provided a first ring and a second ring having cam portions that cooperate with each other, and a spring that allows the first ring and the second ring to be elastically movable in the height direction. and a cylindrical sleeve rotatably engaged and held around the main body block on the outer periphery of each of the rings and spring members,
The sleeve is provided with a locking portion for engaging and locking the locking portion of the other connector, and the cam portion of each ring is rotated in the height direction of the two matched rings by rotation of the sleeve. The pair of connectors are locked by changing the arrangement within a certain range against the elastic force of the spring member, and further, the other connector is connected to the shell of the other connector. A locking mechanism for an electrical connector, characterized in that it is provided with a spiral sloped portion that guides the locking portion of the connector to lock and release the lock. 2 One ring of the first ring and the second ring is fixed to the main body block in the circumferential direction and is rotatable with respect to the sleeve, and the other ring is rotatable with respect to the main body block in the circumferential direction. The first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the cam part is engaged with the sleeve, and the relative position of the two sleeves in the circumferential direction is moved by the rotation of the sleeve, so that the height of the cam part is varied. Locking mechanism for electrical connectors as described in Section 1.