JPH10334986A - Lever-type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lever type connector capable of smoothening lever-turning movement. SOLUTION: At an opposing part of an inner face 12A of a base part 12 of a lever 3 to a side face 4 of a connector housing 2, an annular spacer 6 is protruded concentrically with a lever-mounting shaft 9. Therefore, the inner face 12A of the lever 3 does not come into face contact state or floating up from a side face 4 of the connector housing 2 through a height of the spacer 6, and the lever can be rotated with a smaller force compared with a conventional case in which an entire counter face comes into contact therewith.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a lever type connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
showed that. The lever-type connector 50 is provided with a lever 53 for displacing both connectors in a fitting direction when fitting with a mating connector (not shown). The lever 53 is rotatably mounted by fitting a pair of bearing holes 54 formed in a base 55 of the lever 53 into a pair of lever mounting shafts 52 protruding from both side surfaces of the connector housing 51. .

[0003]

However, in such a lever-type connector 50, when the lever 53 is molded from a synthetic resin material, the pair of left and right base portions 55 approach each other due to warpage after molding (see FIG. 1). 9 in the direction of arrow B). When this is assembled to the connector housing 51, the base 55 and the connector housing 5 near the lever mounting shaft 52 are provided.
In the portion where the side surface of the first member is opposed, the two members 55 and 51 come into contact with considerable pressure. For this reason,
A large force is required for the rotation operation of the lever 53, which is contrary to the gist of the lever 53 originally provided for reducing the fitting force of the male and female connectors. 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 smoothly performing a lever rotation operation.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lever-type connector which is assembled so as to straddle the connector housing between both side surfaces of the connector housing. A lever which is turned to be displaced so as to bring both connector housings closer to each other when the connector housing is fitted to the side connector housing, wherein a side surface of the connector housing to which the lever is rotatably mounted and the lever are provided. And a gap holding portion for securing a gap between the two is protruded from at least one of the lever and the connector housing toward the other side. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the gap holding portion is formed by an arc-shaped ridge concentric with the center of rotation of the lever.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the gap holding portion is provided on the opposing surface of the lever and the connector housing. As a result, the space between the lever and the connector housing rises, so that the lever can be operated with a smaller force when the lever is rotated, as compared with the conventional case where the entire opposing surface is in contact.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the gap holding portion is
Since the turning operation of the lever forms an arc-shaped ridge concentric with the center of rotation of the lever, the force at the time of operating the lever can be further reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the lever-type connector 1 of the present embodiment has the lever 3 and is fitted to the mating connector housing 7. The mating connector housing 7 is molded of a synthetic resin material, and accommodates a plurality of male terminal fittings 17 inside. A hood portion 14 for covering the male terminal fitting 17 is formed on the front side of the mating connector housing 7 (the surface on which the connector housing 2 is fitted). In this case, the hood portion 14 is assembled so as to fit into the hood portion 15 on the connector housing 2 side. A pair of cam receiving projections 10 are provided in a columnar shape from both left and right side surfaces of the mating connector housing 7. This cam receiving projection 1
0 is inserted into the guide groove 8 and the cam groove 13 at the time of starting the fitting of the connector housings 2 and 7.

On the other hand, the lever type connector 1 has a connector housing 2 for accommodating a plurality of female terminal fittings (not shown).
And a lever 3 rotatably connected to the connector housing 2 (see FIG. 1). The connector housing 2 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape slightly larger than the mating connector housing 7, and a terminal accommodating chamber 5 for accommodating terminal fittings is opened forward and backward at a central portion. Is provided. Also, the front portion of the connector housing 2 (the mating connector housing 7).
A hood portion 15 is formed on the surface on which the terminal fittings are fitted) so as to cover the terminal fittings. Also, connector housing 2
A guide groove 8 for receiving a cam receiving projection 10 protruding from the mating connector housing 7 is formed in a rectangular shape from the front end to the vicinity of the center on the left and right side surfaces 4. A pair of lever mounting shafts 9 for rotatably engaging the lever 3 are provided behind the guide groove 8. The lever mounting shaft 9 is formed in a substantially columnar shape, and a bearing hole 16 on the lever 3 side is assembled. And the right and left side 4
In the vicinity of the lever mounting shaft 9, an endless annular gap holding portion 6 concentric with the lever mounting shaft 9 is provided. The gap holding portion 6 is protruded from the side surface 4 in a triangular cross section (see FIG. 5).
The inner surface 12A of the base 12 is received. That is, the inner surface 12A of the lever 3 and the connector housing 2
A gap corresponding to the height of the gap holding portion 6 is secured between the side face 4 and the side face 4.

The lever 3 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, and is formed in a U shape in which one ends of a pair of left and right bases 12 are connected by an operation unit 11. The base 12 can be opened and deformed with respect to the operation unit 11. A bearing hole 16 is formed at the distal end of the pair of bases 12, and a lever mounting shaft 9 protruding from both left and right side surfaces 4 of the connector housing 2 is fitted therein. The bearing hole 16 is formed slightly larger than the diameter of the lever mounting shaft 9, and when the lever mounting shaft 9 is fitted, the lever 3 is connected to the connector housing 2.
To be rotatable with respect to. Inner surface 12A of both bases 12
A cam groove 13 is recessed (on the side in contact with the side surface 4 of the connector housing 2), receives the cam receiving projection 10 of the mating connector housing 7, and rotates the two connector housings 2 by rotating the lever 3. , 7 are displaced close to each other in the fitting direction. In the cam groove 13, near the opening where the mating connector housing 7 is fitted, the base 1 is provided.
2, a locking claw 18A of the rotation restricting piece 18 protrudes.
The rotation restricting piece 18 is formed to be flexibly deformable. When the position of the cam groove 13 and the position of the guide groove 8 are adjusted by rotating the lever 3 assembled to the connector housing 2 (hereinafter, the lever 3 will be described below). When this is adjusted to this position, it is referred to as a "fitting start position.") The locking claw 18A is locked to the upper wall surface of the guide groove 8, and the rotation of the lever 3 is temporarily regulated.

Next, the operation and effect of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, the assembly of the lever-type connector 1 will be described. Base 12 of lever 3
The lever mounting shafts 9 corresponding to each of the pair of bearing holes 16 are fitted so as to straddle both side surfaces of the connector housing 2 while bending in the leg opening direction. Bearing holes 1 on both left and right sides
When the lever mounting shaft 9 is fitted in the lever 6, the lever 3 is rotatably mounted around the lever mounting shaft 9. By mounting the terminal fittings on the lever 3 and the connector housing 2 thus assembled, the assembly of the lever-type connector 1 is completed.

Next, an operation of fitting the connector housing 2 to the mating connector housing 7 will be described. With the lever 3 at the fitting start position, the mating connector housing 7 is assembled to the connector housing 2. The pair of cam receiving projections 10 are fitted into the cam groove 13 and the guide groove 8,
When the operating portion 11 of the lever 3 is rotated in the direction in which the connector housings 2 and 7 are displaced close to each other (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2), the cam groove 13 guides the cam receiving projection 10 in the fitting direction. When the lever 3 is rotated to a predetermined position, the fitting operation of the connector housings 2 and 7 is completed, and the corresponding male and female terminal fittings are connected inside the connector housings 2 and 7.

Between the side surface 4 of the connector housing 2 and the inner surface 12A of the lever 3, there is provided a gap holding portion 6 projecting from the side surface 4. For this reason, the inner surface 12A of the lever 3 rises from the side surface 4 of the connector housing 2 by the height of the gap holding portion 6, and does not come into a surface contact state. In comparison with the case, the lever can be operated with a small force when rotating the lever. Further, since the gap holding portion 6 is formed as an arc-shaped ridge concentric with the center of rotation of the lever 3, contact between the side surface 4 and the inner surface 12A is limited to a linear region following the ridge of the arc-shaped ridge. And
The force at the time of rotating the lever 3 can be further reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the followings are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. (1) The gap holding portion is not limited to being formed in the connector housing, and may be provided so as to protrude from the inner wall surface of the lever. In this case, the forming recess of the gap holding portion may be formed in the forming die of the lever bearing hole 16 formed in the base portion 12 of the lever 3, and the die structure is extremely simplified. (2) The cross-sectional shape of the gap holding portion is not limited to the triangular shape, and may be a trapezoidal shape. Even in this case, the force when the lever is rotated can be reduced as compared with the conventional case where the entire side wall surface and inner wall surface are joined. (3) The gap holding portion may be formed radially from the center of rotation. At this time, it is easier to design a synthetic resin mold as compared with the case where the gap holding portion is provided concentrically at the center of rotation. (4) The gap holding portion does not need to be formed in a continuous endless annular shape as in the present embodiment. A plurality of arc ridges concentric with the center of rotation may be formed. Further, a plurality of points may be scattered in an annular area concentric with the center of rotation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lever-type connector before assembly according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lever connector and a mating connector housing after assembly.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connector housing.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the vicinity of a lever mounting shaft in the connector housing.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a gap holding unit.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the lever-type connector after assembly.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the vicinity of a lever mounting shaft of the lever connector after assembly.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a gap holding portion of the lever connector.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a lever-type connector before assembly in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lever type connector 2 ... Connector housing 3 ... Lever 4 ... Side surface 6 ... Gap holding part 7 ... Mating connector housing

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lever which is mounted so as to straddle a connector housing between both side surfaces of a connector housing, and is turned to be displaced so as to approach both connector housings when the connector housing and a mating connector housing are fitted. A lever-type connector, wherein a gap holding portion for securing a gap between the lever and a side surface of the connector housing to which the lever is rotatably attached is provided with the lever. A lever-type connector protruding from at least one of the connector housing and the connector housing toward the other side. 2. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, wherein the gap holding portion is formed by an arc-shaped ridge concentric with the center of rotation of the lever.