JPH07131917A - Locking mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a locking mechanism wherein a coupling body can be engaged and disengaged by slight depressing force, wherein retaining force will not vary during engagement, wherein strength is easily designed, and wherein destruction and the like are prevented with reliability. CONSTITUTION:A coupling body 1 is to be coupled with a catching body 15 on the place flush with the wall surface 16 of the catching body 15. An engaging pawl 13 is to be engaged with an engaging projection 14 formed on the coupling body 1, and is formed on one end of a swinging plate 6. The swinging plate 6 is supported between the pivot pins 5 in the supporting members 3 formed on the coupling body 1 in a way that it is rotatable. The swinging plate 6 is provided on its both sides with elastic arms 9 of flexible material, the free ends 10 of which extend in the opposite direction to the point of the engagement. Energizing projections 11 are formed on the coupling body 1, in contact with the free ends 10 of the elastic arms 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lock mechanism for connecting a combined body such as a lid of a fuse box to a box body, which is a combined body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various lock mechanisms of this type have been known, but the first conventional mechanism is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-279. That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the combined body 51 made of synthetic resin or the like is, for example, a male connector, and is fitted along the wall surface 54 into the mating body 52 on the mating side, for example, the recess 53 of the female connector. They are combined and electrically connected. The rising base 55 is a side wall surface 56 of the combined body 51.
Is projected from. Rise base 55 and first elastic arm 5
7 and the second elastic arm 58 are integrally formed, and
It has a letter shape. Free end 59 of first elastic arm 57
Is a pressing portion 60 that is pressed by a finger, and a free end 61 of the second elastic arm 58 is provided with a locking hole 63 that locks with a locking projection 62 of a mating body 52 on the other side. .

In the above structure, as shown in FIG. 6, the body 51 of the combined body is recessed 53 from the direction of the arrow A in the body 52 to be combined.
The free end 61 of the second elastic arm 58 when fitted and inserted therein.
Deforms as shown by the chain double-dashed line. Then, when further pressed in the direction of arrow A, the free end 61 of the second elastic arm 58 is
The locking hole 63 provided on the side is the locking projection 6 of the coupled body 52.
The main body 51 of the combined body is fixed to the jointed body 52 and is electrically connected to the jointed body 52 by fitting the two. Also, the combined body 5
When 1 is detached from the coupled body 52, the pressing portion 60 of the free end 59 of the first elastic arm 57 is pressed with a finger, and the second elastic arm 58 on the opposite side with the rising base 55 as a fulcrum.
Rotates. Accordingly, the locking hole 6 of the second elastic arm 58
3 is disengaged from the locking projection 62, and the combined body 51 is removed from the combined body 52 in the direction of arrow B.

Next, as a second conventional mechanism, as shown in FIG. 7, a portion equivalent to the second elastic arm 38 having the locking hole 43 and the first elastic arm 37 having the pressing portion 40 are provided. The tilting plate 30 is formed by integrally connecting the equal parts. The first elastic arm 37 is formed along the both sides of the second elastic arm 38 from the vicinity of the pressing portion 40 at the free end, and the rising base portion 35 protrudingly provided on the side wall surface 36 of the combined body 31.
Have been serialized. Therefore, since the pressing force and the like are distributed to the rising base portions 35 at both ends, the strength is not required as in the first conventional mechanism, and the locking can be released with a small pressing force.

[0005] The coupled body 52 which is used in the above-described first conventional mechanism for fitting the coupled body 31 and the coupled body having the above structure.
Described in. The combined body 31 is the concave portion 53 of the combined body 52.
When fitted and inserted into the inside, the free end 41 near the locking hole 43 is pushed up by the locking projection 62 and flexibly deformed. As a result, the free end 41 rides over the locking projection 62 and passes through the locking hole 43.
Are locked to the locking protrusions 62. Further, when the combined body 31 is detached from the combined body 52, when the pressing portion 40 is pressed down with a finger, the first elastic arm 37 and the rising base portion 35.
The tilting plate 30 rotates due to the bending deformation of the tilting plate 30. As a result, the locking hole 43 floats above the locking projection 62 and comes off,
The combined body 31 can be removed from the combined body 52.

[0006]

However, in the first conventional mechanism, since the rising base portion 55 is provided in the T-shape at the connection point of the first elastic arm 57 and the second elastic arm 58, the pressing is performed. Even if the first elastic arm 57 is bent and deformed by pushing the portion 60, the second elastic arm 58 is blocked by the rising base portion 55.
The effective rotation of is not achieved. Therefore, a large force is required to release the locked state of the locking hole 63 and the locking projection 62, and there is a problem in that the lock cannot be released in some cases.
Further, since stress concentrates on the rising base portion 55, the amount of bending of the rising base portion 55 increases, the holding force at the time of locking decreases due to plastic deformation, etc., and in some cases, the rising base portion 55 breaks. Therefore, the rising base 55
If the strength of is increased, a large pressing force is required when releasing the lock.

Next, the second conventional mechanism can release the lock with a smaller pressing force than the first conventional mechanism.
Since the rising base portion 35 that flexibly deforms is present, there is a risk of plastic deformation or breakage when an excessive pressing force is applied.

Therefore, the object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. It is possible to lock and release the combined body with a small pressing force, and the holding force in the locked state does not change. In addition, design strength settings can be easily set,
It is to provide a lock mechanism capable of reliably preventing breakage and the like.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object of the present invention is to lock a coupling body in a direction along a wall surface of the coupled body by engaging with a locking projection provided on the coupled body. A tilting plate provided with a locking claw at one end is supported by the coupling body by a supporting means that is rotatable on the coupling body by pin coupling, and the locking claw and the locking projection are locked. Can be achieved by a lock mechanism characterized by being held by elastic biasing means that is elastically deformed and connected to the tilting plate. Further, the above-mentioned object is that the supporting means is composed of a supporting member provided on the combined body and a pivot pin, and the elastic biasing means are formed on both sides of the tilting plate, which is opposite to the engaging direction. This can be achieved by being constituted by an elastic arm extending in the direction of and an urging protrusion provided at a position corresponding to the free end of the elastic arm.

[0010]

In the lock mechanism of the present invention having the above-described structure, when the combined body is pushed in the direction along the wall surface of the combined body, the locking claw of the tilting plate is first locked on the combined body. Abut the protrusion. When the pushing is further continued, the free end of the elastic arm is bent and deformed while pushing the biasing projection, and the tilting plate rotates around the pivot pin while overcoming the locking projection while resisting the biasing force of the elastic arm. Move. Then, when the locking claws pass over the locking projection, the tilting plate is returned to the original state by the biasing force, and the combined body is locked to the locking projection of the coupled body. Next, when the combined body is detached from the combined body, when the pressing portion of the tilting plate is first pressed in the wall surface direction of the combining body, the tilting plate rotates again about the pivot pin. As a result, the locking claw is disengaged from the locking projection, and the combined body can be removed by pulling it up along the wall surface of the combined body. As described above, since the tilting plate is hardly bent in the locked state, the pressing force applied to the pressing portion effectively acts to unlock the locking projection from the locking claw. Therefore, the locked state of the combined body can be released with a small pressing force.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a lock mechanism according to the present invention.
It will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing an embodiment of the lock mechanism of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the lock mechanism, FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing a modified example of the lock mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which applied the lock mechanism of the present invention to fitting of a connector.

As shown in FIG. 1, on a side wall 4 of a combined body 1 which is, for example, a lid of a box, a pair of supporting members 3 are provided as supporting means 2 so as to face each other, and a pair of pivot pins are provided. A tilting plate 6 made of a flexible material such as synthetic resin is supported by 5. The tilting plate 6 is supported by the pivot pin 5 in the vicinity of the center of the side end face, and a pair of slits 7 are provided from the vicinity of the center of the front face toward the upper end. The outer portion of the slit 7 has an elastic biasing means 8
An elastic arm 9 is formed, and the biasing projection 11 that abuts on the inner surface of the free end 10 of the elastic arm 9 has a coupling body 1.
Are projected at corresponding positions on the side wall 4. A pressing portion 12 formed by a pair of slits 7 is provided on the upper end of the tilting plate 6. Further, a locking claw 13 is provided on the inner surface of the lower end of the tilting plate 6, and a locking projection 14 for engaging with the locking claw 13 is provided on the coupled body 15 which is, for example, a box. It is projected at a corresponding position on the wall surface 16.

In the lock mechanism of the present embodiment constructed as described above, when the combined body 1 is pushed in along the wall surface 16 of the combined body 15 in the fitting direction as shown in FIG. The tip of the locking claw 13 contacts the locking protrusion 14. Then, when further pushed, the tilting plate 6 rotates about the pivot pin 5. At this time, since the elastic arm 9 is in contact with the biasing projection 11, it cannot be rotated and is flexibly deformed. The maximum bending is when the locking claw 13 gets over the locking projection 14. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the locking claw 13 gets over the locking projection 14, the tilting plate 6 is rotated about the pivot pin 5 by the elastic action of the elastic arm 9 which has been flexibly deformed. I try to return to the original state again.
By this action, the locking claw 13 is locked to the lower end of the locking projection 14. Even when the locking claw 13 is locked to the locking projection 14, the elastic arm 9 is slightly bent, and this bending acts as a holding force for pressing the tilting plate 6 against the coupled body 15.

Next, when removing the combined body 1 from the combined body 15, by pushing the pressing portion 12 toward the side wall 4,
As shown in FIG. 2B, the tilting plate 6 rotates about the pivot pin 5. As a result, the locking claw 13 is locked by the locking projection 1.
4, the locked state is released, and the combined body 1 can be removed from the combined body 15 by pulling the combined body 1 upward.

According to the present embodiment, since the tilting plate 6 is pivoted about the pivot pin 5 which is supported to engage and disengage with the locking projection 14, the tilting plate 6 is provided with the elastic arm 9. Except for the fact that the pressing portion 12 is pressed, it hardly bends. Therefore, the pressing force applied effectively acts on the unlocking,
The locking claw 13 can be removed from the locking projection 14 with a small pressing force.

As a modification of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the height h of the biasing projection 11 is increased and the length of the elastic arm 9 is lengthened so that the joined body 1 is joined to the joined body 15. At the time of fitting, it can be fitted with a smaller pressing force.
That is, the urging force F by which the locking claw 13 presses the locking protrusion 14
Will be set to a small value, and
Therefore, the pressing force required for releasing the lock when removing from 5 is also small. On the contrary, if the length of the elastic arm 9 is shortened, the urging force F by which the locking claw 13 presses the locking protrusion 14 increases, and a larger pressing force is applied when unlocking the combined body 1 from the coupled body 15. Pressure is needed. By setting the length l of the elastic arm 9 and the height h of the biasing projection 11 at the time of designing in this manner, the pressing force applied when the combined body 1 is fitted, the pressing force necessary for releasing the combined body 1, etc. can be arbitrarily set. Can be set.

When the lock mechanism of the present invention is applied to the fitting of the connector, the fitting can be carried out with a low insertion force, and the fitting state can be easily released. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking mechanism of the embodiment described in FIG. 1 is attached to the side wall surface 25 of the male connector housing 21. When the male connector housing 21 is inserted into the fitting receiving recess 23 at the front end portion of the female connector housing 22, the locking claw 13 formed at the front end of the tilting plate 6 is locked at the front end of the side wall surface 24 of the female connector housing 22. Abut the protrusion 14. When pushed further, the tilting plate 6 pivots around the pivot pin 5 and gets over the locking projection 14, and the locking claw 13 is locked by the locking projection 14 by the action described with reference to FIG. Mating is completed. When the fitting state is released, the tilting plate 6 is rotated around the pivot pin 5 by pressing the pressing portion 12, and the engagement state with the engagement protrusion 14 is easily released, and the male connector housing 21 Can be removed.

As described above, since the tilting plate 6 rotates about the pivot pin 5, there is no place where a large stress concentration occurs as in the conventional example, and therefore plastic deformation occurs and the holding force of the locking claw 13 increases. It does not fall or break. In addition, since the pivot pin 5 can be made of a metal material having high strength, the reliability can be further improved and the locking claw 1 can be used.
The worn tilting plate 6 of 3 can be removed by pulling out the pivot pin 5 and can be easily replaced with a new product, so that maintainability can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be implemented in other modes by making appropriate changes. For example, in the above embodiment, the tilting plate 6 and the elastic arm 9 are integrally formed of a flexible material such as synthetic resin, but the tilting plate 6 which is not a flexible material is a separate elastic arm 9 made of a flexible material. It does not matter even if the structure is fixed. Further, if a required space for flexural deformation of the elastic arm 9 can be secured, the biasing projection 11 formed on the combined body 1 in the above-described embodiment can be formed on the elastic arm 9 side of the tilting plate 6. .

[0020]

As described above, according to the lock mechanism of the present invention, the tilting plate is supported by the combined body through the pivot pin, and the tilting plate is rotated to lock and lock the connected body. Cancellation is performed. Therefore, there is almost no bending deformation of the tilting plate, and the pressing force applied to the pressing portion effectively acts on the locking claws, so that the locking state with the locking projections can be released with a small force, and workability is improved. It is possible to improve. Further, since only the elastic arm is flexibly deformed, by setting the length of the elastic arm and the height of the biasing protrusion, the holding force at the time of locking and the releasing force required at the time of removal can be easily set. Since there is no part where the holding force is reduced or broken due to plastic deformation, reliability can be improved. Furthermore, the tilting plate can be easily replaced with a new one by removing the pivot pin, so that the maintainability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view showing a lock mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of the lock mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of a lock mechanism showing a modified example of the embodiment in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view in which the lock mechanism of the present invention is applied to connector fitting.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a lock mechanism showing a first conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view in which a first conventional example is applied to connector fitting.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a lock mechanism showing a second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Combined body 2 Support means 3 Support member 5 Pivot pin 6 Tilt plate 8 Elastic biasing means 9 Elastic arm 10 Free end 11 Biasing projection 12 Pressing part 13 Locking claw 14 Locking projection 15 Coupled body

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tilting plate having a locking claw at one end, which is locked by a locking projection provided on the coupled body, for coupling the coupled body in a direction along a wall surface of the coupled body, Elasticity that is supported by the combined body by a support means that is rotatable on the combined body by pin connection, and the engagement state of the locking claw and the locking projection is elastically deformed by being connected to the tilting plate. A lock mechanism characterized by being held by a biasing means. 2. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the support means includes a support member provided on the combined body and a pivot pin. 3. The elastic biasing means is provided on both sides of the tilting plate, and is provided at a position corresponding to a free end of the elastic arm extending in a direction opposite to the engaging direction. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism comprises a biasing protrusion.