JPH10144396A - Connector equipped with lock arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a connector provided with a mechanism for preventing reverse rotation of a lock arm. SOLUTION: A lock arm 11 is formed in cantilever state on an upper face of a connector housing 10 and engaging projections 13 are formed in both right and left sides in the rear end part of the lock arm 11. Protective walls 14 are formed in both sides sandwiching the lock arm 11 and engaging holes 15A are formed in the rear end parts of the protective walls 14 and deformation of the lock arm 11 in the inverse direction to the bending direction of the lock arm is prevented by fitting the projections 13 in the holes 15A. In this way, since the lock arm 11 is prevented from being rotated reversely by fitting the projections 13 and the holes 15A, while being protected from interference with the projections 13, the protective walls 14 can be set as close as possible to the lock arm 11 and the gap of the protective walls 14 and the lock arm 11 is made narrow and thus the connector can be miniaturized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector with a lock arm, and more particularly to a connector provided with a lock arm reversing prevention mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a connector of this type, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No.
The one disclosed in 119180 is known.
As shown in FIG. 4, the connector is provided with a lock arm 2 on the upper surface of a connector housing 1 in a cantilever manner. The lock arm 2 is formed with a pair of engaging projections 3 substantially at the center in the length direction on both left and right side surfaces. Further, a protection wall 4 is formed on both left and right sides of the lock arm 2 so as to close a bending space of the lock arm 2, and the protection wall 4 can be engaged with the upper surface of the engagement protrusion 3. The reversing restricting portion 5 is formed so as to protrude. By the engagement of the two, the lock arm 2 is deformed in the direction opposite to the bending direction, that is, the lock arm 2 is prevented from being inverted.

[0003]

However, in the structure in which the engaging projection 3 and the reversing restricting portion 5 are formed so as to protrude between the protective wall 4 and the lock arm 2, and the two are engaged to prevent reversing, A gap is formed between the protection wall 4 and the lock arm 2 according to the size of the protrusion of the engagement protrusion 3.
Accordingly, the width dimension between the protection walls is increased accordingly. This is not so problematic in the case where the number of poles is large, but when the number of poles is small and the width between the protective walls is almost equal to the lateral width of the housing, it may be an obstacle to downsizing the connector. . Further, there is a possibility that an electric wire or the like is interposed between the protection wall and the lock arm. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lock arm-equipped connector having a lock arm reversal prevention mechanism, which can be downsized.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a connector with a lock arm according to claim 1 is provided with a lock arm which can be elastically engaged with a mating connector on an outer surface of a housing. In the connector with a lock arm, one of the lock arm and a protection wall provided on a side of the lock arm is provided with an engagement protrusion projecting in a direction intersecting a bending direction of the lock arm. ,
The other is characterized in that an engagement projection is fitted into the engagement projection, and an engagement recess is provided that allows the engagement projection to move in the bending direction but restricts movement in the direction opposite to the bending direction. Have.

[0005] The connector with a lock arm according to claim 2 is
2. The connector with a lock arm according to claim 1, wherein the locking projection is provided at a free end of the cantilevered lock arm, and the engagement recess is formed in a protective wall.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the provision of the protective wall can prevent foreign substances such as electric wires from entering the bending space of the lock arm. Further, one of the lock arm and the protective wall is provided with an engagement protrusion, and the other is provided with an engagement recess, and the engagement between the two restricts movement of the lock arm in the direction opposite to the bending direction. can do. That is, it is possible to prevent the lock arm from being inverted. In addition, since the reversing prevention mechanism is configured by fitting the engagement projection and the engagement recess, the protection wall can be brought as close as possible to the lock arm without interfering with the engagement projection. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the connector by eliminating the gap between the arm and the arm, and to prevent an electric wire or the like from entering between the lock arm and the protection wall.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the lock arm is formed in a cantilever shape, and the engaging projection is formed on the free end side of the lock arm. Therefore, when an engagement protrusion is provided on the base side of such a cantilevered lock arm, the free end side may be further deformed in the reverse direction from the engagement protrusion. According to the present invention, since the engagement protrusion is provided on the free end side, the inversion of the lock arm can be more reliably prevented.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a connector with a lock arm according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector with a lock arm of the present embodiment is a female connector and includes a rectangular parallelepiped connector housing 10.

The lock arm 11 is formed in a cantilever shape on the upper surface of the connector housing 10, and is formed to bend toward the connector housing 10. On the upper surface of the lock arm 11, a locking projection 12 is formed at a substantially central portion in the length direction, and is engaged with a male connector housing (not shown) which is a mating side. As a result, the male and female connectors are held in the locked state.

The rear end (free end) of the lock arm 11
Is a release operation portion 16 for locking, and when pressed, the locking projection 12 bends to release the locked state. Further, a pair of engaging projections 13 are formed on both left and right side surfaces of the release operation unit 16, and are fitted into an engagement hole 15A described later.

FIG. 2 shows an upper surface of the connector housing 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the lock arm 11, protection walls 14 are formed on both left and right sides (upper and lower sides in FIG. 2) of the lock arm 11 so as to cover the bending space of the lock arm 11. This protective wall 14 is used for the connector housing 10.
It is formed by projecting both right and left edges of the upper surface of the upper surface upward, and is formed so as to be substantially in contact with the lock arm 11.

The rear end of the protective wall 14 further projects upward to form a projecting piece 15, and the projecting piece 15 has a rectangular engaging hole 15A. The engagement protrusion 13 is fitted into the engagement hole 15A. This engagement hole 15A is larger than the engagement protrusion 13,
As shown in FIG.
Numeral 3 does not contact the upper edge of the opening of the engagement hole 15A, but if it moves slightly upward, it contacts the upper edge of the opening, and engages the lock arm 11 with the mating connector housing in the downward direction. Can be moved more than the required bending dimension. That is, the lock arm 11 can be bent downward, but the deformation in the direction opposite to the bending direction is restricted by the engagement protrusion 13 abutting on the upper edge of the opening of the engagement hole 15A. It has become.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Since the engagement protrusion 13 is allowed to move downward in the state of being fitted into the engagement hole 15A, when the male and female connectors are connected, the lock arm 11 bends downward, and then the locking protrusion 12 is moved. Engage with male connector housing.
Thereby, the male and female connectors are locked in the fitted state. Further, when the release operation section 16 is pressed in the fitted state, the lock arm 11 can release the bending lock.

On the other hand, when a force in a direction opposite to the bending direction acts on the lock arm 11, for example,
When the lock arm 11 is pulled upward as it is, the lock arm 11 is slightly deformed in the direction opposite to the bending direction, but when the lock arm 11 is slightly deformed, the engaging projection 13 is engaged. Since it contacts the upper edge of the opening of the hole 15A, there is no further deformation. Therefore, the lock arm 11 is prevented from being forcibly deformed in the direction opposite to the bending direction.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the mechanism for preventing the inversion of the lock arm 11 is formed by the engagement between the engagement projection 13 and the engagement hole 15A.
4 as much as possible to prevent the protection wall 14 from being locked with the lock arm 1
1 can be approached. Therefore, the lock arm 11
No wasteful gap is formed between the protective wall 14 and the connector 14, and the connector can be reduced in size.

Further, since the gap between the lock arm 11 and the protection wall 14 is reduced as much as possible, it is possible to prevent electric wires and the like from entering between the lock arm 11 and the protection wall 14 and to prevent the electric wires from entering the lock arm 11. It is possible to more reliably prevent the user from being caught.

Further, the engaging projection 13 is
Since it is formed at the rear end and directly presses the operating end, it is possible to effectively prevent the lock arm 11 from turning over. Note that another configuration can be considered as a means for eliminating the gap between the lock arm 11 and the protection wall 14. For example, a locking edge is formed in an eaves-like manner with respect to the lock arm from the upper edge of the protection wall, and the locking edge can be engaged with the upper surface of the lock arm to prevent the lock arm from turning over. is there. However, if this operation is performed at the base of the lock arm, the lock arm becomes bulkier and the mating connector housing becomes larger. Further, if the operation is performed on the operation end side of the lock arm, the operation area of the release operation unit is reduced, which causes a deterioration in operability. In this regard, in the present embodiment, such a situation can be avoided because the configuration is such that the engagement protrusion 13 and the engagement hole 15A are fitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, 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 above embodiment, the engagement protrusion 13 protrudes from the rear end of the lock arm 11, and the engagement hole 15A for receiving the engagement protrusion 13 is formed in the protection wall 14. A configuration in which the engagement protrusion protrudes and an engagement recess for receiving the engagement protrusion is formed on a side surface of the lock arm may be employed.

(2) In the above embodiment, the engaging projection 13 is formed at the rear end of the lock arm 11, but the invention is not limited to this. It may be.

(3) In the above embodiment, the engagement projections 13 are formed on the left and right sides of the lock arm 11, and the protection wall 14 is formed with the engagement holes 15A on the left and right sides correspondingly. It may be formed on either one of the left and right sides. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entirety of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the connector.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Description of Signs] 10: Connector housing (housing) 11: Lock arm 13: Engagement projection 14: Protective wall 15A: Engagement hole (engagement recess)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector with a lock arm having a lock arm resiliently engageable with a mating connector on an outer surface of a housing, wherein the lock arm and the lock arm are disposed laterally. Either one of the protection walls is provided with an engagement projection projecting in a direction intersecting with the bending direction of the lock arm, and the other is fitted with the engagement projection and has the engagement projection of the engagement projection. A connector with a lock arm, wherein an engagement concave portion is provided to allow movement in a bending direction but restrict movement in a direction opposite to the bending direction. 2. The connector with a lock arm according to claim 1, wherein the locking projection is provided at a free end of a cantilevered lock arm, and the engagement recess is formed in the protection wall. A connector with a lock arm.