JPH08315907A - Lever type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily engage and disengage a connector via a lever operation. CONSTITUTION: The lever 31 of a make connector 21 has a locking claw 37 formed on the turning operation section 34 thereof, and is slidably provided with a release operation piece 40. On the other hand, a female connector 23 is provided with a locking bracket section 39 via a flexible and deformable support piece 38. Also, an engaging release section 41 is formed on the section 39. When the lever 31 is turned to a coupling position, the connectors 21 and 23 are coupled to each other and the section 39 is engaged with the claw 37, thereby locking the lever 31. In this case, when the piece 40 of the lever 31 is caused to slide, the section 41 is pushed, thereby flexing the piece 40 and disengaging the section 39 and the tooth 37 from each other. In other words, a lock can be released and the lever 31 can be operated at the side of only one of the connectors 21 and 23, thereby ensuring an easy disengagement operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lever type connector having a lock mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a multipolar connector is connected, a large connecting force is required. Therefore, the lever principle is utilized so that the connector can be connected with a relatively small operating force. Things are known.

In this type of lever connector, as shown in FIG. 7, a connector housing 2 of a male connector 1 is provided with lever supporting shafts 3 on both side surfaces thereof, and a cam groove 4 is provided therein. Shaped lever 5 is connector housing 2
It is rotatably supported so as to straddle. On the other hand, the female connector 6 is provided with cam projections 7 that engage with the cam grooves 4 of the lever 5 on both side surfaces of the connector housing 8, and the cam projections 7 are inserted into the cam grooves 4 at the time of connection. After that, when the lever 5 is rotated, the female connector 6 is easily moved in the coupling direction by the cam action.

Further, a lock mechanism 9 is provided to prevent the lever 5 from returning after the male and female connectors 1 and 6 are connected. That is, the locking portion 10 is provided substantially in the center of the lever 5, and the locking receiving portion 11 is provided on the upper surface of the connector housing 8 of the female connector 6 at a portion facing the locking portion 10. Rotate male and female connectors 1,
When 6 is coupled, the locking portion 10 engages with the locking receiving portion 11 and the lever 5 is locked. The rear end of the lock receiving portion 11 extends rearward (to the left in the drawing) to form a lock release operating portion 12, which is pushed downward to move the tip of the lock receiving portion 10 (in the drawing). The right end) is lifted and the lock is released.

[0005]

However, in the conventional structure, the connector housing 8 (female connector 6 side) on the side opposite to the connector housing 2 (male connector 1 side) on which the unlocking operation portion 12 is mounted with the lever 5 is used. In order to release the lock and to disconnect the male and female connectors 1 and 6 in the combined state, the lock release operating portion 12 is operated with one hand while the lever 5 is operated with the other hand. I had no choice. That is, since the lever 5 which is an operation unit for detaching the connectors 1 and 6 and the lock release operation unit 12 for releasing the lock of the lever 5 are arranged in different members, the connector 1, In order to remove 6, the operating parts 5 and 12 must be operated at the same time, so both hands must be used. For this reason, the connectors 1 and 6 can be installed in a space where it is difficult to insert both hands.
When installed, there was a problem that the operation was very difficult. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lever-type connector capable of easily detaching a joined connector.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the lever-type connector of the present invention includes a connector mounted on one connector housing of the connectors to be coupled to each other and the other connector being rotated. A release operation for releasing the lock by the lock mechanism, in which the housing is displaced to connect and disconnect the two connectors, and a lock mechanism is provided for locking the lever in a state where the two connectors are connected. It is characterized in that the portion is provided on the lever (the invention of claim 1).

Further, the lock mechanism is composed of a lock portion and a lock receiving portion which can be engaged with each other at the lock position of the lever, while the rotation range of the lever exceeds the lock position. Is set up to, and at least one of the locking portion and the locking receiving portion is engaged to release the engagement between the locking portion and the locking receiving portion when the lever is rotated beyond the lock position. A release unit may be provided (the invention of claim 2).

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, since the lever is provided with the release operating portion, it is possible to operate the lever as it is after operating the release operating portion. That is, the lever can be simultaneously operated while operating the release operation portion with one hand.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the lever is rotated from the lock position to the rotation position, the engagement releasing portion releases the engagement between the engagement portion and the engagement receiving portion. That is,
After unlocking the lever, you can operate the lever to disconnect the connector.

[0010]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, it is possible to operate the lever as it is while unlocking the lever on one connector side, so that the connector can be detached with one hand. Also, the work can be performed very easily. Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, since the lock is released by utilizing the lever rotation mechanism, there is no need to provide a release operation portion, and there is an effect that the configuration is simple and economical.

[0011]

【Example】

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the lever-type connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The right side of FIG. 4 is a male connector 21, which is configured to include a male connector housing 22 that houses a male terminal fitting (not shown), and the left side is a female connector 23 that is a female connector housing that houses a female terminal fitting (not shown). It is configured with 24.

The male connector housing 22 has a plurality of cavities (not shown) for accommodating male terminal fittings arranged side by side on the rear side thereof, and a front surface thereof is open in front of the male connector housing 22 for accommodating the female connector housing 24. A possible hood portion 26 is provided. A pair of guide grooves 27 is formed on both left and right sides of the hood portion 26, and a cam receiving pin 28, which will be described later, can be inserted into the guide groove 27 when the female connector housing 24 is inserted. Further, the female connector housing 24 is formed in a rectangular shape that can be accommodated in the hood portion 26, and a plurality of cavities (not shown) for accommodating male terminal fittings are arranged side by side inside thereof. Further, a pair of cam receiving pins 28 are laterally projected on the left and right side surfaces of the female connector housing 24.

On the other hand, a pair of lever support shafts 30 are provided laterally on the left and right side surfaces of the male connector housing 22, and a gate-shaped lever 31 is formed on the legs so that the lever 31 straddles the male connector housing 22. One part is fitted.
As a result, the lever 31 moves back and forth (left and right in FIG. 4).
It will be rotatably supported by.

A cam groove 33 is provided on the back side of the leg piece 32 of the lever 31 (on the side of the matching surface with the male connector housing 22).
Are recessed so that the cam receiving pin 28 enters the inside when the female connector housing 24 is inserted. When the lever 31 is rotated from the disengaged position (the position shown in FIG. 4) to the coupling position (the position shown in FIG. 1) rotated in the direction of the arrow P, the cam groove 33 enters the cam receiving pin 28. , The female connector housing 24 is moved into the hood portion 26 of the male connector housing 22 by the cam action, and the male and female terminal fittings are brought into the connected state.
It has a function of connecting 1 and 23.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotary operation portion 34 between the leg pieces 32 of the lever 31 is provided with an engaging portion 36 on the lower surface of the central portion through a connecting portion 35. Has been formed. The engaging portion 36 projects from the connecting portion 35 in the left-right direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of the drawing), and the projecting portion has a cutout upper surface to form a locking claw 37. On the other hand, in the rotation operation portion 34 of the lever 31, the central portion of the upper surface is partitioned and separated to form a release operation piece 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the release operation piece 40 has a lower edge portion on both left and right sides which protrudes outward to form a flange portion 40a, which is a guide groove for an operation piece formed in the rotation operation portion 34 of the lever 31. 43 is engaged. This allows
The release operation piece 40 is slidable back and forth (left and right direction in FIG. 1). In the normal state, when the tip of the release operation piece 40 does not project from the rotation operation portion 34 and the lever 31 is rotated to the coupling position, the tip is lightly engaged with the engagement release portion 41 of the female connector 23 described later. Contact. Also,
The stroke length of the release operation piece 40 is set so that the support piece 38 is sufficiently bent so that the engagement state between the engagement claw 37 and the engagement receiving portion 39 can be released at the coupling position of the lever 31 as described later. Has been done.

A lock receiving portion 39 is supported on the upper surface of the female connector housing 24 via a flexibly deformable support piece 38 extending upward from the central portion of the rear portion. The tip of the lock receiving portion 39 (the right end in FIG. 2) is bent obliquely downward, and when it is housed in the hood portion 26 of the male connector housing 22 and the two connectors 21 and 23 are coupled, the tip thereof is formed. The portion is adapted to engage with the locking claw 37 provided on the lever 31. That is, these constitute the lock mechanism 42 according to the present invention, and the lever 31 is locked at the coupling position. Further, the rear end portion (the left end portion in FIG. 2) of the lock receiving portion 39 extends upward at a right angle and serves as an engagement releasing portion 41 that is pressed by the releasing operation piece 40. When the disengagement portion 41 is pushed rearward, the support piece 38 bends rearward and the tip of the lock receiving portion 39 is lifted to release the engagement with the lock claw 37. ing.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. To connect the male and female connectors 21 and 23, the cam receiving pin 28 of the female connector housing 24 is fitted into the cam groove 33 of the lever 31 at the disengaged position shown in FIG. 4 through the guide groove 27 of the male connector housing 22. Then, the lever 31 fitted as described above is moved from the detached position to the arrow P.
In the direction to the coupling position (position shown in FIG. 1). Then, the cam receiving pin 28 is guided to the cam groove 33, the female connector housing 24 is housed in the hood portion 26 of the male connector housing 22, and both male and female connectors 21, 23 are provided.
Combine.

When the lever 31 is rotated to the connecting position, the locking claw 37 is bent into the lower surface of the locking receiving portion 39 while bending the tip of the locking receiving portion 39 downward, and the locking claw 37 and the locking receiving portion 39 are in the engaged state. (See FIG. 1). As a result, the lever 31 is prevented from being locked at the coupling position and being returned carelessly so that the connectors 21 and 23 are disengaged.

Next, the case where the lock of the lever 31 is released and the coupled connectors 21 and 23 are separated will be described. To release the lock of the lever 31, as shown in FIG. 2, the release operation piece 40 may be pushed forward.
As a result, the disengagement portion 41 is pushed backward and the lock receiving portion 3
The tip of 9 is lifted and the lock is released. Then, as it is, the rotation operation portion 34 of the lever 31 is moved backward (see FIG.
When moved in the middle right direction, the cam receiving pin 28 is guided by the cam groove 33 and the connectors 21 and 23 are disengaged (see FIG. 4).

As described above, in this embodiment, the male connector 21 is used.
When the lever 31 is operated in the direction to release the lever 31 while releasing the lock of the lever 31 only on the side, the two connectors 21 and 23 are released. Therefore, it is not necessary to operate on the female connector 23 side, and therefore, the release is performed with one hand. It is possible to perform the work, and the work of detaching the connectors 21 and 23 is very easy. Further, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to provide the unlocking operation portion (reference numeral 12 in FIG. 7) on the female connector side, so that the unlocking operation portion does not stick out from the female connector as in the conventional case, and this is careless. The lock is not released by being pushed, and the female connector can be made smaller than the conventional one.

<Second Embodiment> A second embodiment of the lever-type connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the structure for unlocking the lever, and the other parts have the same structure as the first embodiment, so the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals. And the description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the engagement releasing portion 52 formed upright on the rear end portion of the lock receiving portion 51 is
It has a slope 52a that rises diagonally rearward.
2a is pressed by the turning operation portion 58 of the lever 53 as described later. Also, the disengagement portion 5
When 2 is pressed, as in the first embodiment, the lock receiving portion 51
The tip of the lock lever 54 is lifted, whereby the engagement between the locking claw 54 and the locking receiving portion 51 is released, and the lock of the lever 53 is released.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the release operation piece 40 (see FIG. 2) is not provided on the rotation operation portion 58 of the lever 53, and the lever 53 is further rotated forward from the coupling position (lock position). With this configuration, the engagement releasing portion 52 is pushed by the rotation operating portion 58 of the lever 53. That is, an extension groove 56 that allows the lever 53 to rotate forward (to the left in FIG. 5) is connected to the rear end of the cam groove 55 of the lever 53. This extension groove 56
Is formed in an arc shape centered on the lever support shaft 57 and has no cam action unlike the cam groove 55.

Now, as in the first embodiment, the cam receiving pin 2
After inserting 8 into the cam groove 55 and then turning the lever 53 from the disengaged position to the coupling position, the female connector housing 24 is guided into the hood portion 26 of the male connector housing 22, and the male and female connectors 21 and 23 are coupled. To do. Then, the lever 53 is locked by the engagement of the locking claw 54 and the locking receiving portion 51 at the coupling position (see FIG. 5).

Further, in this embodiment, in order to disengage the male and female connectors 21 and 23 that have been joined together, the lever 53 may be pivoted forward. The central portion abuts on the engagement releasing portion 52 of the lock receiving portion 51 provided on the female connector housing 24.
Then, when the lever 53 is further rotated forward, the engagement releasing portion 52 is pushed backward (leftward in FIG. 6), the supporting piece 38 bends downward, and the tip of the locking receiving portion 51 is lifted. As a result, the engagement between the engagement receiving portion 51 and the engagement claw 54 is released (see FIG. 6). If the lever 53 is quickly moved in the direction of the disengaged position (rightward in FIG. 6), the lifted catch receiver 51 returns to its original state, and the catch claw 54 moves faster.
Moves toward the detached position and the lock is released. After that, when the lever 53 is rotated to the disengaged position as in the first embodiment, the cam receiving pin 28 is guided by the cam groove 55 and the connectors 21 and 23 are disengaged.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the lever 53 itself pushes the engagement releasing portion 52 to release the lock of the lever 53, the lever 53 is naturally released and then the lever 53 is directly used for the connector 21 ,. 23 can be disengaged. Therefore, both connectors 21, 2
3 can be disengaged by operating only the male connector 21 side, which facilitates the disengagement work of the connectors 21 and 23 as in the first embodiment, and unlocks the lock by utilizing the rotation of the lever 53 itself. Therefore, unlike the above-described first embodiment, the release operation piece 40 is not necessary, and there is an effect that the configuration is simple and economical.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be modified and implemented as follows, for example, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention. (1) In the present invention, the lever may be provided with what corresponds to a release operation portion for releasing the lock of the lever itself. For example, by pushing the central portion of the lever downward, the bending For example, the lock may be unlocked by utilizing the deformation. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing a combined state of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing an unlocked state of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a release operation piece of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a detached state of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing a combined state of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the unlocked state of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a conventional detached state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 ... Male connector 22 ... Male connector housing 23 ... Female connector 24 ... Female connector housing 31 ... Lever 40 ... Release operation piece (release operation portion) 42 ... Lock mechanism 51 ... Lock receiving portion 52 ... Engagement releasing portion 53 ... Lever 54 ... Locking claw (locking part)

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. Among the connectors to be connected to each other, the other connector housing is displaced in accordance with the rotation of a lever attached to one of the connector housings to connect and disconnect the two connectors, and the two connectors are connected to each other. A lever-type connector provided with a lock mechanism that locks the lever in such a state that a release operation portion that releases the lock by the lock mechanism is provided on the lever. 2. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism is composed of a locking portion and a locking receiving portion which are mutually engageable at a locked position of the lever, while the locking mechanism of the lever is rotated. A moving range is set up to a rotation position beyond the lock position, and at least one of the locking portion and the lock receiving portion has a locking portion when the lever rotates beyond the lock position. A lever-type connector comprising: an engagement releasing portion for releasing the engagement between the lock receiving portion and the lock receiving portion.