JPH0963692A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small size connector which can release the lock securely, by regulating the sliding scope of an operating part sliding operated along the outer surface of a shell cover, by a regulating member of the shell cover. SOLUTION: When a connector P is pulled out from a connector R, the operator 4a of an operation member 4 exposed to the outside of a shell cover 3 is slidingly operated in the pull-out direction of the connector P until it is regulated by the inner edge 3d of an operation hole 3c. As a result, the abutting part 4 of the member 4 is abutted to the slope 2b of a lock arm 2 to bend the arm 2 to the inner side, and the lock part 2a is removed from a recess 5c to release the lock condition. By moving the cover 3 in the pull-out direction in such a condition, contacts 12 are removed from contacts 51 and pulled out. In this case, the abutting part 4c is pushed back by the slope 2b by the spring force of the arm 2, and it is slid until regulated by the inner edge 3d, so as to return to the position of the lock condition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a lock portion for locking a mating connector to be inserted and removed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of connector, there is one having a structure shown in FIGS. This connector (plug side) P is the connector body A with the contact A ₁ attached.
And a lock member B having a lock portion B ₁ in which the locking direction with respect to the mating connector (receptacle side) R to be inserted / removed is the direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction, and the connector body A inside
An outer shells cover C that houses the lock portion B ₁ of the lock member B
And an operating member D for operating the operating portion D ₁ exposed to the outside from the operating hole C ₁ of the outer shell cover C so as to be displaced in the direction opposite to the locking direction.

More specifically, the lock member B is a spring-like lock arm supported by the connector body A such that the lock portion B ₁ is on the free end side, and the lock portion B ₁ is in the insertion / removal direction of the mating connector R. It is adapted to be locked and locked by its own spring force in a recess R ₁ provided in a direction orthogonal to the above.

When pulling out from the mating connector R, as shown in FIG. 7, the operating portion D ₁ of the operating member D exposed to the outside from the operating hole C ₁ provided on the side of the outer shell cover C is arrowed. By pushing inward as shown to bend the lock arm (lock member) B, the lock part B ₁ is released inward from the recess R _{1 of the} mating connector R to release the locked state and then pulled out. ing.

[0005]

In the conventional connector P described above, when the connector P is pulled out from the mating connector R, the lock arm B ₁ of the lock arm B is displaced in the direction opposite to the lock direction. In order to bend B in the direction opposite to the locking direction, it is necessary to push in the operation portion D ₁ of the operation member D exposed from the operation hole C ₁ of the outer shell cover C inward, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the insertion / extraction direction. Therefore, the operating unit
D ₁ must protrude from the outer shell cover C in a direction orthogonal to the insertion / extraction direction by at least a dimension corresponding to the amount of bending of the lock arm B, and the outer dimension in the above direction becomes larger accordingly.

Further, when the operating portion D ₁ is pushed in, when the amount of displacement by which the lock portion B ₁ of the lock arm B is displaced in the opposite direction to the locking direction is insufficient due to insufficient pushing, the lock cannot be released, and too much pushing occurs. Therefore, when it is large, the lock arm B may be deformed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized connector capable of reliably unlocking.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a connector body in which a contact is mounted and a locking direction with respect to a mating connector to be inserted / removed is orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction. A lock member having a lock portion, an outer shell cover that accommodates the connector body inside, and an operation portion exposed to the outside through an operation hole of the outer shell cover so that the lock portion of the lock member is displaced in the opposite direction to the locking direction. In the connector including an operating member to be operated, the operating section is slid along the outer surface of the outer shell cover, and a restricting section for restricting the sliding range is provided on the outer shell cover. I am doing it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the restriction portion is an inner edge portion of the operation hole.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the operating portion is configured to be slid in the same direction as the insertion / removal direction.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the lock member is supported by the connector main body so that the lock portion is on the free end side and is inclined with respect to the inserting / removing direction. Is a bent lock arm having a spring property, and a contact portion that contacts the inclined portion and bends the lock arm in the opposite direction to the lock direction is provided in the operation member.

According to a fifth aspect, in the fourth aspect, the abutting portion is formed in a rounded shape.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. This connector P is the mating connector R, which is the plug side and the receptacle side.
The connector body 1, lock member 2,
An outer shell cover 3 and an operating member 4 are provided.

The connector body 1 has a molded body 11 formed in a substantially box shape by opening one side with a molding material, and a bottom portion 11 of the molded body 11 so that one end thereof is arranged in an opening recess 11b of the molded body 11.
a plurality of contacts 12 arranged in a row penetrating through a, and the lead wire 13a of the cord 13 is provided at the other end of the contact 12.
Are properly connected.

The lock member (lock arm) 2 is made of a metal leaf spring material and is formed in a long shape. More specifically, the lock member (lock arm) 2 is provided on both sides of the connecting portion 20 fixed to the bottom portion 11a of the molded body 11 by heat welding or the like. By bending, it is formed as a pair of arms that are supported by the molded body 11 and are located on both sides of the connector body 1. The free end side of the arms is bent to project outward. The lock portion 2a is provided, and the middle portion is provided with an inclined portion 2b which is bent at two places in an obtuse angle shape and is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction which is the insertion / removal direction.

The outer shell cover 3 is composed of a pair of cover bodies made of a molding material, and by fitting the pair of cover bodies over each other, one opening 3a of the rectangular shape is formed on one side and the other is formed. It is formed in a box shape having another circular opening 3b on the side and rectangular operation holes 3c on both sides. At this time, from the one opening 3a, the portion forming the opening concave portion 11b of the connector body 1 and the inclined portion 2b of the lock arm 2 are formed.
The part on the tip side is projected to the outside, and the other opening
The cord 13 is led out from the 3b, and the operation portion 4a of the operation member 4 described later is exposed to the outside from the operation hole 3c.

The operating member 4 is formed of a molding material into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and one side of the operating member 4 is a rectangular and substantially flat plate-shaped operating portion 4a having a plurality of narrow grooves on the surface in the lateral direction. Is provided via a connecting portion 4b which is lowered one step, and the abutting portion 4c, which is one ridge portion in the lateral direction on the other surface side, is formed in a large radius shape.

The connecting portion 4b has a rectangular cross section, and its lateral direction is also formed in a rectangular shape. The connecting portion 4b is slightly smaller than the lateral direction of the operation hole 3c of the outer shell cover 3 described above.
The longitudinal direction is formed to be about half smaller than the longitudinal direction of the operation hole 3c. Therefore, the operating member 4 is
When the pair of cover bodies of the outer shell cover 3 are overlapped so that the 4b is located in the operation hole 3c, the operation portion 4a cannot be removed from the outer shell cover 3 while being exposed to the outside, and the operation portion is not removed.
When 4a is slid along the outer surface of the outer shell cover 3 in the longitudinal direction of the operation hole 3c, that is, in the same direction as the insertion / extraction direction as described later, the lateral direction of the connecting portion 4b becomes the lateral direction of the operation hole 3c. While being guided by the inner edge portion, movement of the connecting portion 4b in the longitudinal direction is restricted by the inner edge portion 3d (restricting portion) in the longitudinal direction of the operation hole 3c, and the sliding range is restricted.

The mating connector (receptacle side) R has a molded body 5 formed in a box shape by providing a recess 5a on one side with a molding material, and a plurality of molded bodies 5 are provided at the bottom 5b. Contacts 51 are arranged in a row penetrating at the same pitch as the contacts 12 of the connector P described above.

The recess 5a is formed in one opening 3a of the connector P.
Connector body 1 and lock arm 2 protruding from the outside
It is formed in a rectangular shape so that the lock arm 2 can be inserted and inserted into the lock arm 2 on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the lock arm 2 as described later.
Recesses 5c that can be locked by 2a are provided respectively.

The connector P is used by being inserted into and removed from the mating connector R as follows. First, when inserting the connector body 1 and the lock arm 2 shown in FIG.
1 is inserted into the recess 5a of the mating connector R,
Each contact 12 corresponds to each contact as shown in
The lock arm 2 bends inward along the side wall of the recess 5a while being connected to each other, and then the lock arm 2a urges the lock portion 2a in the outer direction, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the inserting / removing direction. It is locked and locked in the recess 5c by its own spring force.

Next, when pulling out, the operating portion 4a of the operating member 4 exposed to the outside of the outer shell cover 3 is regulated by the inner edge portion (regulating portion) 3d of the operating hole 3c in the pulling direction of the connector P. When slide operation is performed, the contact portion 4c of the operating member 4
Comes into contact with the inclined portion 2b of the lock arm 2 and
By bending the lock portion 2a in the direction opposite to the lock direction, that is, the inner direction shown by the arrow, the lock portion 2a on the free end side is released from the recessed portion 5c to release the locked state, and in that state, when the outer shell cover 3 is moved in the pulling direction, Contact 12 is contact
Pulled out of connector R, away from 51. At this time,
The operation member 4 slides until the contact portion 4c is pushed back by the inclined portion 2b by the spring force of the lock arm 2 and is regulated by the inner edge portion (regulation portion) 3d on the opposite side of the operation hole 3c, and as shown in FIG. Return to the state shown.

In the connector P, as described above, the operation member for pulling out from the mating connector R is used.
When displacing the lock part 2a of the lock member (lock arm) 2 in the direction opposite to the lock direction by means of 4, the operation part 4a of the operation member 4 exposed to the outside from the operation hole 3c of the outer shell cover 3 is attached to the outer surface of the outer shell cover 3. It is only necessary to slide along the operation hole 3c to the inner edge (restriction portion) 3d of the operation hole 3c.
Unlike the conventional example, there is no need to project from the outer shell cover 3 by the size for pushing inward in the direction orthogonal to the insertion / extraction direction, and it is formed into a substantially flat plate shape, and the external dimensions are reduced accordingly, and the operation part 4a is restricted. Since the slide range is regulated by the portion 3d, the lock can be reliably unlocked without causing an excess or deficiency of the displacement amount of the lock portion 2a that is displaced in the opposite direction to the lock direction as in the conventional example.

Further, since the inner edge portion 3d of the operation hole 3c for exposing the operation portion 4a of the operation member 4 to the outside serves as a regulation portion for regulating the sliding range of the operation portion 4a, another portion of the outer shell cover 3 is provided. There is no need to purposely provide a regulation section at the place.

Also, since the operation portion 4a is slid and pulled out from the mating connector R in the same direction as the operation direction, the operation is easy.

Further, the contact portion 4c provided on the operating member 4 is formed by bending the lock arm 2 having a spring property to form an inclined portion 2b.
Since it directly abuts on the lock arm 2, the lock arm 2 can be bent in the direction opposite to the lock direction with a simple structure without adding a special member.

Further, since the contact portion 4c of the operating member 4 is formed in a rounded shape, it smoothly contacts the inclined portion 2b of the lock arm 2 for easier operation.

Further, since the operating portion 4a of the operating member 4 has a plurality of narrow grooves on the surface in the lateral direction orthogonal to the sliding operation direction, the operator's finger is placed in the narrow grooves. It is easier to operate without getting caught and slipping.

In this embodiment, the contact portion 4c of the operating member 4 is formed in a rounded shape. However, for example, when the required displacement amount of the lock portion 2a of the lock arm 2 cannot be secured, the lock portion 2c is locked. Although it is difficult to smoothly contact the inclined portion 2b of the arm 2, the contact portion 4c does not necessarily have to be rounded.

Further, in the present embodiment, the lock member (lock arm) 2 is designed to bend itself,
For example, in order to further increase the locking force, a rigid piece arranged so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the inserting / removing direction,
Alternatively, a strong spring member provided separately may urge the lock member in the locking direction.

Further, in this embodiment, in order to drive the lock arm 2 to displace the lock portion 2a in the opposite direction to the lock direction, the abutting portion 4c of the operating member 4 directly contacts the inclined portion 2b of the lock arm 2. For example, in order to obtain a large driving force with a small amount of force, when the abutting portion 4c of the operating member 4 abuts, the driving force of the lock member 2 is, for example, levered. It is also possible to provide an intermediate drive member for enlarging.

Further, in the present embodiment, the operating direction for sliding the operating portion 4a is the same as the inserting / removing direction. However, for example, when the sliding operation cannot be performed in the same direction due to the structure, it is not always the same. You do n’t have to orient yourself,
In that case, when pulling out from the mating connector R, the slide operation and the pull-out operation are two-step operations in different directions, which makes the operation difficult.

Further, in this embodiment, the regulating portion for regulating the sliding range of the operating portion 4a of the operating member 4 is the outer shell cover 3
Although it is formed by the inner edge portion 3d of the operation hole 3c, it may be formed by, for example, a protrusion or the like for restricting the movement of the operation member 4 inside the outer shell cover 3 for more accurate restriction.

Further, in the present embodiment, the lock arm 2 is made of a metal material, but if it can be bent when the abutting portion 4c of the operating member 4 abuts, it is made of a molding material. Also, in that case, the molded body of the connector body 1
If it is formed integrally with 11, the structure will be simpler.

[0035]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the lock portion of the lock member is displaced by the operation member in the direction opposite to the locking direction, the operation portion of the operation member exposed to the outside from the operation hole of the outer shell cover is covered with the outer shell cover. Since it is only necessary to slide along the outer surface of the outer shell to the regulating portion provided on the outer shell cover, the operating portion needs to project from the outer shell cover by the dimension for pushing inward in the direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction as in the conventional example. Since the outer dimensions are smaller and the operating section is restricted in the sliding range by the restriction section provided on the outer shell cover, the lock section is displaced in the direction opposite to the lock direction as in the conventional example. The lock can be reliably released without excess or deficiency of the amount.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the inner peripheral portion of the operation hole for exposing the operation portion of the operation member to the outside restricts the sliding range of the operation portion. Therefore, it is not necessary to purposely provide a restriction part at another place of the outer shell cover.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, while operating the operation portion,
Since it is pulled out from the mating connector in the same direction as the operation direction, the operation is easy.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the abutting portion provided on the operating member directly abuts on the inclined portion bent and formed on the lock arm having a spring property. Therefore, the lock arm can be bent in the opposite direction to the lock direction with a simple structure without adding a special member.

According to the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect, since the rounded contact portion smoothly contacts the inclined portion of the lock arm, it becomes easier to operate. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a state after the above-mentioned one is pulled out.

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view showing a state in the process of pulling out the same as above.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operation member of the above.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a front cross-sectional view showing a state in which the above-mentioned one is pulled out.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P connector 1 Connector body 12 Contact 2 Lock arm (lock member) 2a Lock part 2b Inclined part 3 Outer shell cover 3c Operation hole 3d Restriction part (inner edge of operation hole) 4 Operation member 4a Operation part R Counterpart connector

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A connector body having a contact mounted thereon,
A locking member having a locking portion whose locking direction with respect to the mating connector to be inserted / removed is a direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction, an outer shell cover for accommodating the connector body inside, and a locking portion of the locking member in a direction opposite to the locking direction. A connector provided with an operation member for operating an operation unit exposed to the outside from an operation hole of the outer shell cover so as to be displaced, wherein the operation unit is slid along an outer surface of the outer shell cover, and A connector, wherein a regulation portion for regulating a sliding range is provided on the outer shell cover. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the restriction portion is an inner edge portion of the operation hole. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the operation section is slid in the same direction as the insertion / removal direction. 4. A lock arm having a spring property, wherein the lock member is supported by the connector main body so that the lock portion is on a free end side, and an inclined portion that is inclined with respect to the insertion / removal direction is bent and formed. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the operating member is provided with an abutting portion that abuts the inclined portion and bends the lock arm in a direction opposite to the locking direction. 5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the contact portion is formed in a rounded shape.