JPH0462772A - Connector connection structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate complete and sure connection of both housings by providing a lever member with play under locked conditions, and thereby maintaining the locked conditions within the range of play. CONSTITUTION:In connecting both housings A, B, an engaging member 3 is engaged with the opening 2a of a groove 2 while keeping A, B in a face-to-face manner. At this time, the member 3 is fitted therein smoothly and surely. When an arm 1 is turned in the direction of arrow from the aforesaid conditions, in the range of 15 deg. turn at the initial stage, the member 3 faces the port of a narrow part 2b. When the arm 1 turns further, it moves toward the deepest part of the groove 2 along the narrow part 2b, and at the time when the turning angle reaches 110 deg., both housings A, B are made in a connected condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a connecting structure of connectors that can be connected with low insertion force by lever action, and more particularly to an improvement of a locking mechanism for the connected state.

[Conventional technology]

A connector that can be connected by lever action is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-5
No. 6875, etc., and the applicant of the present application also filed the application
It has been proposed in No. 65607, etc. The coupling structure of the connector will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6. A U-shaped tripod arm 1 serving as a lever member is rotatably attached to a male housing A forming the connector. The female housing B is provided with an engaging element 3 that fits into the arcuate groove 2 of the arm 1.
) and (b), after aligning both housings A and B and inserting the engager 3 into the mouth 2a of the groove 2, as shown in FIG.
) to (d), when the arm 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the engager 3 moves within the groove 2.

At this time, since the groove 2 is gradually approaching the rotation center O of the arm 1 from the mouth 2a side (see Fig. 3), the engagement point between the groove 2 and the retainer, that is, the engager 3, As the housing rotates, it is brought closer to the center of rotation O, and by this force, both housings A and B are brought closer and joined together. When the arm 1 is along the female housing B (
(See FIG. 6(a)), the connection terminals of both housings A and B are securely connected, and in this state, both housings A and B cannot be separated unless arm 1 is rotated in the opposite direction. In other words, the rods are connected in a locked state.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the lock point is when the arm 1 is completely along the female housing B, and there is no play in the rotation of the arm 1 in the locked state. That is, since the locked state is at one point at the end of the rotation range of arm 1, due to a malfunction in the rotational force of arm 1, arm 1 may not reach the locking point, or even if it does, it may return due to the reaction force. It may come off the lock point and become no longer locked. Further, even if the lock state is achieved, the arm 1 may move slightly (for some reason) and the lock state will no longer be maintained. If the lock state is no longer established, there is a risk that the housings A and B may separate, resulting in a poor connection.

Furthermore, in assembling this type of connector, the fact that there is some play in the locked state allows the arm 1 to rotate up to that play area, which is advantageous in terms of workability.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide some play in the rotation of the lever member in the locked state.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the above-mentioned coupling structure of the rotor which is connected by the lever action, the engagement point of the lever member and the securing member is fixed. The locus is set to gradually approach the rotation center of the lever member and then reach a certain distance, and at the branch point from the asymptote to the certain distance, both the connector housings are connected together (the connection is completed).
The structure was designed so that it would be in this state.

[Effect]

In the present invention constructed in this manner, as in the conventional case, both housings are brought close to each other by the lever action by the rotation of the lever member, and in the middle of the movement, both housings are connected to each other. The member advances further and stops due to its rotational inertia. In other words, the lever member is
While maintaining the locked state in which both housings are coupled and connected, engagement with the engaging member is advanced to form play in the locked state.

〔Example〕

In the figure, since the same reference numerals as those described above have the same functions, their explanation will be omitted.
To explain this, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening 2a is formed to have a larger diameter than the engager 3 and extends linearly toward the rotation center 0 of the arm 1, and then the asymptotic portion 2b reaches the rotation center 0. In contrast, the play portion (lock portion) 2c gradually approaches and extends a predetermined length while keeping a constant distance from the rotation center 0.

The occupied ranges of the mouth 2a, asymptotic portion 2b, and lock portion 2c with respect to the entire rotation angle of the arm 1 are 15 degrees (portion A), 110 degrees (portion B), and 20 degrees (portion C) in the figure. Each of these angles may be appropriately selected in consideration of the degree of fitting between the arm 1 and the engaging element 3, the coupling and connecting action of both the housings A and B, the width of the locked state (degree of play), etc.

Therefore, to connect both housings A and B,
First, as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the engaging element 3 is fitted into the opening 2a of the groove 2 with the housings A and B facing each other.

At this time, since the opening 2a has a larger diameter than the engaging element 3 and extends linearly, the engaging element 3 fits into the groove 2 smoothly and reliably. When the arm 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow from this state, in the initial rotation range of 15 degrees (portion a), the engager 3 only moves within the opening 2b, and both housings A
, B faces the mouth of the asymptotic portion 2b without performing any approaching action.

Furthermore, as the arm 1 rotates, as shown in FIG. ), both housings A and B become connected. In other words, both housings AXB are electrically completely connected and combined, and no longer come close to each other (FIG. 3(C)). However, due to its rotational inertia, the arm 1 is further pushed into the groove 2, i.e.
Proceed through the lock part 2c 20 degrees (C part), and proceed through the lock part 2c 11J (
It stops along the housing B as shown in d).

The movement of the arm 1 within the lock portion 2c is very light since the image housings A and B have been connected, so no load is applied for the connection.

Next, the above-mentioned tripod-like arm 1 will be explained. The arm 1 is made of a conductive elastic material, and on both sides thereof,
Contact pieces 4 extending outward from the center are formed, and the tips of these re-contact pieces 4 are formed in an arcuate shape in the inner width direction to form contact points 5a and 5b (see FIG. 4). On the other hand, on both sides of the female housing B, connection state detection terminals 6.6 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 are fitted into the synthetic resin cover 10, and the arm 1 to connect both housings A and B, and the connector 7 becomes connected (arm 1 is locked) and reaches its end point (see Fig. 6).
When state d) is reached, the contacts 5a and 5b are connected to the terminal 6.
．． 6 contacts 6a and 6b, respectively.

A protrusion 7 is formed on both sides of the female housing B in contact with the contacts 6a and 6b. It gradually bulges out and becomes higher than the contacts 6a and 6b. Therefore, as described above, when the arm 1 is rotated to couple and connect both the housings A and B, the contact piece 4 (contact points 5a, 5b) bends its protrusion 7, as shown in FIG. After riding on it, it comes into contact with the contacts 6a and 6, and after that, the protrusion 7 prevents rotation in the opposite direction and the contact state is maintained. At this time, both housings A and B
The force f (the force that allows the pin 3 to move through the locking part 2C) that causes the contact piece 4 to overcome the protrusion 7 is smaller than the coupling force F (the force that allows the pin 3 to move through the asymptotic part 2b) (F>f). It is preferable to do so (see Figure 7). This is because the inertial force at the asymptotic part 2b of the arm 1 causes the contact piece 4 to move towards the protrusion 7.
This is because it can be easily overcome.

A connector connection detection circuit 8 is connected to the contacts 6a and 6b via lead wires r, and when the arm 1 is rotated, both housings A and B are coupled and connected, and the contacts 5a, 5b and 6a,
When 6b makes contact, the detection circuit 8 is driven by the contact. The detection circuit 8 lights up a light emitting diode and outputs a detection signal (connection completion signal). For example, in automatic assembly, the output is input to a controller to detect completion of the set.

The relationship between the rotation angle of the arm 1 and the load W applied to the arm 1 is shown in FIG.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the engagement between the groove 2 and the engaging element 3 as in the embodiment, but also includes well-known means such as engagement between the engaging element and the protrusion as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-56875. It can also be adopted in the same publication and the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 16560.
Of course, it can also be adopted in a device like No. 7 that does not have a connector connection detection circuit (contacts 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, detection circuit 8, etc. in the embodiment).

〔Effect of the invention〕

This invention is configured as described above, and since the lever member has play in the locked state, the locked state is maintained within the range of the play, so that both housings are completely and reliably connected. It becomes easier to connect. Therefore, the locked state becomes stable.

Further, the presence of play in the locked state of the lever member is very significant in improving workability in assembling this type of lever-type connector for low insertion force.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the connection state of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a front view of the arm of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a contact of the embodiment. Connection action diagram, 5th
The figure is a schematic wiring diagram of the same example, and Figures 6 (a) to (d) are
FIG. 7, which is an explanatory diagram of the connection of the connector of the same embodiment, is a diagram showing the relationship between the arm rotation angle and its load during operation of the same embodiment. A...Male housing, B...Female housing, 0...Rotation center, 1...Arm (lever member), 2... Arcuate groove, 2a...mouth, 2
b...Asymptotic part, 2C...Long part, 3...Engager, 4...Contact piece, 5a, 5b...Lever Component side contact, 6...
・Terminals, 6a, 6b...Housing side contacts, 7...
...Protrusion, 8...Connector connection detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) One of the pair of connector housings is provided with a lever member rotatable toward the other, and the other is provided with a member that engages with the lever member, and the lever member is moved from the other connector housing to one side. As the lever member rotates in the opposite direction, the engagement point of the lever member and the engagement member gradually approaches the center of rotation of the lever member, and in the connector coupling structure for coupling and connecting both connector housings, the locus of the engagement point is changed from the locus of the engagement point to the lever member. It is characterized in that it gradually approaches the center of rotation of the member and then reaches a certain distance, and the branching point from the asymptote to the certain distance is a state in which both the connector housings are coupled and connected. Connector coupling structure.