JPH0589926A - Low inserting force connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a connector possible to be connect/disconnect with low inserting force. CONSTITUTION:By sliding a protrusion 16 which is provided in a male housing 11 in a groove 17 which is provided in a female housing 12 to guide the male housing 11 in the female housing 12, low force insertion is allowed without putting a terminal 13 in contact with a terminal 14. A lever 15 which is provided in the female housing 12 is operated after insertion to connect the terminals 13, 14 while moving the male housing 11 at small power with the principle of a lever and at the same time the protrusion 16 is engaged with the engaged recess 17b of the guide groove 17 to lock both housings 11, 12. Also, the lever 15 is operated to unlock both housings 11, 12 while moving the male housing 11 with small power on the basis of the principle of levers and at the same time to disconnect the terminals 13, 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector for making an electrical connection, and reduces the force required for attaching and detaching the connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a conventional connector.
As shown in (a) and (b), the female housing 1 is provided with the lance 2 inside, and the male housing 3 is provided with the lance 4 inside. , 6 respectively, so that the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 6 are held inside the female housing 1 and the male housing 3, respectively.

Further, an engaging portion 7 having an engaging hole 7a is provided on the upper portion of the female housing 1, and a stopper 8 is provided on the upper portion of the male housing 3, so that the female housing 1 is provided with the male housing 3. The stopper 8 is fitted into the engaging hole 7a in a state where the male housing 3 is inserted, and thereby the male housing 3 is fixed to the female housing 1. At this time, the male terminal 5 inside the female housing 1 is replaced by the female terminal 6 inside the male housing 3.
It is designed to be inserted into and electrically connected to.

This electrical connection is made by the female housing 1 described above.
When the operator directly presses the male housing 3 with the male housing 3, the male terminal 5 elastically deforms the spring contact 6a of the female terminal 6 to widen the gap between the male contact 5 and the plate contact 6b, as shown in FIG. Further, the pushed male terminal 5 has both contacts 6a, 6
It was made by fitting while contacting with b.

[0005]

However, in the conventional connector, the two terminals are always in contact with each other when they are fitted, and the worker resists the frictional force generated by the contact, and the female housing and the male housing are opposed to each other. Or press
The connector had to be detached by pulling it apart. The force required for inserting one pole in such a connecting method is about 700 g to 1 kg, and for example, the number of poles is 30.
For poles to 60 poles, the total insertion force is 21 kg to 60 kg
The number of workers has reached a certain level, and the worker requires a great deal of labor to attach and detach the connector. In addition, when the insertion force becomes high in the connector connection work, the operator may mistakenly think that the connector is connected, and this may cause a contact failure when the connection is terminated in the middle of insertion. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector which can be detached with a low insertion force.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a female housing and a male housing which are provided so that they can be inserted into each other, and a male terminal and a female held inside these housings. In the connector including a terminal, the female terminal is provided with a fitting portion that fits the male terminal in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the male housing to make an electrical connection. In between
A guide groove for guiding the male housing inserted into the female housing so that the terminals do not come into contact with each other, and a protrusion inserted into the guide groove for guiding the male housing are provided, and the female housing is provided in the female housing. It is characterized in that a lever for connecting both terminals is provided swingably by pressing the inserted male housing and moving it in a direction orthogonal to the inserting direction.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, a hook that is reciprocally moved in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction by a swinging motion of a lever is provided in the female housing, and the female housing is provided in the male housing. It is characterized in that a suspension groove that engages with the hook when it is inserted into the housing is provided.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the male housing is inserted into the female housing, both terminals are guided and inserted by the projection and the guide groove provided between the two housings so as not to contact each other. Further, when the lever provided on the female housing is swung after the insertion of both housings, the lever presses the male housing to move the male housing in a direction orthogonal to the inserting direction of the housing. As a result, the female terminal held inside the male housing is also moved toward the male terminal held inside the female housing, and the terminals come into contact with each other.

Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, when the housings are inserted, when the housings are inserted with the hooks provided in the female housing and the suspension grooves provided in the male housing aligned with each other, The hook is inserted into the suspension groove. When the lever is swung from this state and the terminals are connected to each other as described above, the hook is moved together with the male housing, and when the lever is swung in the opposite direction to the above, the suspension groove is engaged with the hook. As a result, the male housing is moved, and the connection between both terminals is disconnected.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

To connect the connectors 9 and 10 of this embodiment, first, the male housing 11 is inserted into the female housing 12 so that the male terminals 13 and the female terminals 14 do not come into contact with each other, and then the lever mounted on the upper portion of the female housing 12. 15 is operated to push down the inserted male housing 11 inside the female housing 12 to connect the terminals 13 and 14 to each other. Further, the connectors 9 and 10 are separated by the reverse operation to the above.

In order to perform the above function, the recess 12a in which the male housing 11 is fitted in the female housing 12 has a size larger than the height of the male housing 11 so that the male housing 11 can move up and down. A guide groove 17 is provided on the inner surface of the recess 12a to guide the terminals 13 and 14 so that the projections 16 provided on the outer surface of the male housing 11 do not come into contact with each other.

The guide groove 17 has a sliding portion 17a which extends straight from the insertion opening 12b toward the back, and the recess 12 described above.
It is composed of an engaging recess 17b bent downward at a right angle in the depth of a. When the male housing 11 is inserted into the female housing 12, the protrusion 1 is inserted during the insertion.
6 is engaged with the sliding portion 17a to restrict the vertical movement,
At this time, the positional relationship between the terminals 13 and 14 is such that the female terminal 14 is displaced above the male terminal 13, and the terminals shown in FIG. 3 do not come into contact with each other. Further, after the insertion of the housings 11 and 12 is completed, the protrusion 16 is directly above the engagement recess 17b,
It becomes possible to move downward, and when the male housing 11 is pushed down at this position, the terminals 13 and 14 are connected to each other.

Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the female terminal 14 has elastically deformable spring contacts 18a and plate contacts 18b facing the spring contacts 18a arranged on the left and right, and a fitting opened downward. It has a section 18. Further, the male terminal 13 has a plate-shaped male tab 13a extending in the vertical direction, and the male tab 13a is provided with housings 11 and 12 as shown in FIG.
The mating parts 18 of the female terminal 14 face each other in a state where they are inserted, but the mating part 18 is not in contact with the mating part 18, and the mating part 18 does not come into contact with the mating part 18 like a knife switch until the female terminal 14 is pressed. It is designed to be fitted. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the male tab 13a is formed in an upright plate shape with the tip of the male terminal 13 folded in two and the fold facing upward.

A cutout portion 19 is provided on the upper surface of the female housing 12. A lever 15 is arranged inside the cutout portion 19, and the lever 15 is swingably attached by a pin 21 to support projections 20 provided at both ends of the cutout portion 19. As shown in FIG. 8, one end of the lever 15 supported by the pin 21 has an outer peripheral surface 22 and an inner peripheral surface 23 which are eccentric to the pin 21 and are formed of a cylindrical curved surface. The outer peripheral surface 22 and the inner peripheral surface 23 are the lever 1
When 5 is swung in the direction of arrow B from the position of FIG. 3, it is eccentric so that the distance from the swing axis is gradually increased immediately below pin 21. The amount of increase in this distance corresponds to the difference in height between the recess 12a of the female housing 12 and the male housing 11, that is, the amount of movement of the male housing 11 that can be moved up and down, and is above the recess 12a in FIG. The male housing 11 is adapted to be pushed to the lower side of the recess 12a in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the lever 15 supported by the pin 21 is notched at the central portion in the direction along the pin 21 over the range in which the lever 15 swings, and hooks therein. 24 has been inserted. One end of the hook 24 is suspended on the inner peripheral surface 23 of the lever 15, and the other end is suspended inside the female housing 12. When the lever 15 is swung, the hook 24
It slides on the inner peripheral surface 23 and moves up and down, and the contact surface 24a with the inner peripheral surface 23 has a curvature smaller than that of the inner peripheral surface 23 so that the attitude of the hook 24 does not change due to the inner peripheral surface 23. It has a curved surface with a radius. Also, the hook 24
Of the female housing 12 is provided with a hook portion 24b extending laterally at one end suspended in the female housing 12 to form an inverted T shape, and when the male housing 11 is inserted into the female housing 12, Suspension groove 25 provided in 11
It is designed to be inserted into. The suspension groove 25 is wider than the opening 25a on the upper surface of the male housing 11 and is a holding recess 2
5b is formed inside and has an inverted T shape like the hook 24, so that the hook portion 24b is engaged and the suspension groove 2 is formed.
The shape is such that it does not come off from 5 upward.

In the connectors 9 and 10 having the above structure, the lever 15 is tilted to the position shown in FIG.
2 and the distance between the inner peripheral surface 23 and the pivot axis right below the pin 21 is minimized, and a space for inserting the male housing 11 into the female housing 12 is secured. Along with this, the hook 2 suspended on the inner peripheral surface 23
4 also rises and coincides with the position of the suspension groove 25 when the housings are inserted, so that both housings can be inserted.

In this state, the male housing 11 is inserted along the guide groove of the female housing 12, and the insertion is completed.
When the lever 15 is raised in the direction shown by arrow B in the state shown in Fig. 4, the distance from the swing axis right below the pin 21 on the outer peripheral surface 22 increases, pressing the upper surface of the male housing 11, and as shown in Fig. 4. When it is tilted to the opposite side by 180 °, the male housing 11 is completely pushed down, and the terminals 13 and 14 inside the housings 12 and 11 are connected to each other.

In such a connecting operation, the lever 1
When the outer peripheral surface 22 of 5 contacts the upper surface of the male housing 11, a pressing force N is generated from the outer peripheral surface 22 to the upper surface of the male housing 11. As a result, in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 8, assuming that the friction coefficient between the two surfaces is μ, the frictional force f of μ × N is obtained.
Occurs. The force F for rotating the lever 15 is to rotate the lever 15 against the moment generated by the frictional force. Therefore, the length of the arm is L, and the length of the leg from the axial center of the pin 21 to the point 26 of action of the frictional force f. With the length h, at least (h / L) × f, that is, (h / L) × μ ×
It is sufficient if N is large.

Since the outer peripheral surface 22 of the lever 15 and the upper surface of the male housing 11 can both be smooth surfaces, μ <1 can be satisfied. Therefore, if the shape of the lever 15 is configured so that (h / L) <1, the force F for turning the lever 15 is the pressing force N.
It is sufficiently smaller than. At this time, the pressing force N is the force for pressing the female terminal 14 against the male terminal 13, that is, the terminal 1
Since it is nothing but the fitting force of 3, 14, both housings 1
It is possible to connect the terminals 1 and 12 with a small force as compared with the force to directly connect the terminals 13 and 14 by hand.

On the other hand, when releasing the connection of the connectors 9 and 10, if the lever 15 is tilted in the direction A opposite to the above, the outer peripheral surface 22 and the inner peripheral surface 23 of the lever 15 directly below the pin 21. The distance from the swing axis of the male housing 11 decreases, the force pressing the upper surface of the male housing 11 decreases, and the hook 24 suspended on the inner peripheral surface 23 ascends while sliding on the inner peripheral surface 23. The male housing 11 suspended on the hook 24 rises and the terminals 13 and 14 are disconnected from each other.

At this time, the frictional force f ′ acting on the lever 15 is generated at the contact point 27 between the inner peripheral surface 23 of the lever 15 and the hook 24 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. Since the distance h ′ from the axis of the pin 21 to the contact point 27 in is smaller than h, the connectors 9, 1
(H '/ L) can be further reduced as compared with the case of coupling 0, and the connection between the terminals 13 and 14 can be disconnected with a smaller force.

In this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface 22 and the inner peripheral surface 23 of the lever 15 are cylindrical curved surfaces eccentric to the pin 21, but the lever 15 swings in the direction of arrow B in FIG. When moving, press the male housing 11 to move the arrow A
The shape may be such that the distance from the swing axis right below the pin 21 changes so that the hook 24 is pulled up when it is turned in the direction.

Although the tip of the hook 24 and the suspension groove 25 of the male housing are assumed to have an inverted T-shape, the housings can be inserted and the hook 24 is engaged with the suspension groove 25 and disengaged to the upper side. The cross-section may be circular or triangular as long as it has no shape.

[0026]

In the connector according to the present invention, when the female housing and the male housing are inserted, the terminals are guided so as not to come into contact with each other, and the connection between the terminals is performed by the lever by utilizing the lever principle. Therefore, it can be performed with a low insertion force. Therefore, there is an effect that the load on the operator can be reduced especially when connecting a multi-pole connector. In this way, the male housing is completely inserted into the female housing with low insertion force up to the mating end position, and the connection between the terminals is made with a lever with low insertion force, and the position of the lever outside the connector Since the connection status between the terminals can be easily confirmed visually, an operator does not erroneously recognize the completion of the connection, and therefore a connection failure or the like does not occur.

Further, in the connector of the second aspect, when the connection between the terminals is separated, it is separated by the lever by utilizing the lever principle, so that the connection can be made with a small force. This has the effect of reducing the load on the.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before insertion of a male housing and a female housing of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state before insertion of a male housing and a female housing of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state where a male housing of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is inserted into a female housing.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a male terminal and a female terminal are connected by rocking a lever of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a female terminal of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) showing a side view and (b) showing a front view.

FIG. 6 shows a male terminal of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) showing a side view and (b) showing a front view.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a fitting portion showing a state before connection of terminals of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view of a fitting portion before connection of terminals. It is sectional drawing of a fitting part which shows the state which the terminals contacted.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a lever operating direction and a frictional force acting direction of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9A and 9B show a conventional connector, in which FIG. 9A is a vertical sectional view showing a conventional male connector, and FIG. 9B is a vertical sectional view showing a conventional female connector.

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a connected state of a female terminal and a male terminal of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Male housing, 12 ... Female housing, 13 ...
・ Male terminal, 14 ・ ・ ・ ・ Female terminal, 15 ・ ・ ・ ・ Lever, 16 ・ ・ ・ ・
Protrusions, 17 ... Guide grooves, 24 ... Hooks, 25 ... Suspension grooves.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector comprising a female housing (12) and a male housing (11) provided so as to be insertable into each other, and a male terminal (13) and a female terminal (14) held inside these housings. The female terminal is provided with a fitting portion (18) for fitting and electrically connecting the male terminal in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the male housing, and between the both housings. Is provided with a guide groove (17) for guiding the male housing to be inserted into the female housing so that the terminals do not come into contact with each other, and a protrusion (16) engaged with the guide groove and guiding the male housing. A lever (1) for connecting both terminals to the housing by pressing a male housing inserted in the female housing to move the male housing in a direction orthogonal to the inserting direction.
5) A connector having a low insertion force, wherein the connector 5) is swingably provided. 2. A hook (24) which is reciprocally moved in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction by a swinging motion of a lever is provided in the female housing, and the male housing is inserted into the female housing. A low insertion force connector according to claim 1, characterized in that a suspension groove (25) is provided which engages with the hook when the connector is engaged.