JPH1116632A - Lever-style connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a hood part. SOLUTION: At the time of interfitting, an upper surface wall 13U of a hood 11 is advanced into a receiving space 34 between an upper arm 31U and a female-side connector housing 20, while a lower arm 31L is inserted into the inside of the hood 11 along a lower surface wall 13L. That is, since what is inserted into the inside of the hood 11 is only the one arm 31L out of a pair of the upper arm 31U and the lower arm 31L, the height of the hood 11 can be reduced as compared with a structure where both of the arms 31L, 31U are to be inserted into the hood 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a lever type connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a lever-type connector, a male connector housing having a hood portion and fixed to a circuit board, a female connector housing fittable into the hood portion, and rotatably mounted on the female connector housing. Some are equipped with a lever. The lever is formed by connecting a pair of arms by an operation unit, and is attached so as to straddle the female connector housing. When the lever is rotated while engaging the cam grooves formed in the both arm portions and the cam pins provided in the hood portion, both connector housings are drawn to reach a normal fitting state.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned lever-type connector, one outer surface of the hood portion comes into close contact with the circuit board. Therefore, both arms of the lever must be along the outer surface of the hood portion at the time of fitting. Therefore, it is inevitable to adopt a structure of fitting into the hood. However, when both arms are fitted into the hood, there is a disadvantage that the size of the hood is increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reduce the size of a hood.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male connector housing having a hood portion having a pair of cam pins, a female connector housing fittable into the hood portion, and a cam groove. And a lever which is connected to the female connector housing so as to be rotatable so as to straddle the female connector housing, the cam pin and the cam groove associated with the rotation of the lever. A lever-type connector adapted to draw the two connector housings into engagement by engaging with each other,
In one wall portion of the pair of wall portions facing each other of the hood portion, one of the arm portions is allowed to enter along the inner surface thereof, and the other of the wall portions is formed of the other. It is configured such that it can enter a receiving space provided between the arm portion and the female connector housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a spacer is provided between the other arm and the female connector housing for restricting the movement of the other arm into the receiving space. Is provided. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the female connector housing and the lever are engaged with each other during the rotation of the lever, whereby the lever is moved relative to the female connector housing. The structure is provided with a movement restricting means for restricting the movement in the contact and separation directions.

[0006]

Actions and effects of the present invention

<Invention of Claim 1> Of the pair of arms, only one of the arms enters the hood, and the other arm is located outside the hood. In other words, when the arm-type connector structure of the present invention is applied when the arm cannot be located on one outer surface of the hood, the hood can be compared with a structure in which both arms enter the inside of the hood. The size of the unit can be reduced.

<Invention of Claim 2> In the receiving space between the female connector housing and the arm portion, a space for the wall portion of the hood portion to enter can be reliably secured by the spacer. Therefore, even if the direction in which the rotational operation force is applied to the lever deviates, it is possible to prevent the arm from being displaced toward the female connector housing and causing the wall of the hood to interfere. <Invention of Claim 3> When the lever is rotated, an outward displacement force acts on the arm portion located outside the hood portion due to the engagement between the cam groove and the cam pin, and the hood portion is rotated. An inward displacement force acts on the arm portion located on the inner side, and as a result, the lever generally tries to shift laterally with respect to the female connector housing. However, since the movement of the lever in the contact / separation direction with respect to the female connector housing is regulated by the movement regulating means, the lateral displacement of the lever is prevented, and there is no risk of interfering with the cam operation and the rotation operation.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The lever-type connector of the present embodiment includes a male connector housing 10, a female connector housing 20, and a lever 30. The male connector housing 10 has a rectangular tubular hood portion 11 that is rectangular when viewed from the front and has a low height and a large lateral width, and protrudes forward. The male connector housing 10 is fixed to the circuit board P, and the lower surface of the hood 11 is in close contact with the upper surface of the circuit board P. A plurality of male terminal fittings 12 are attached to the male connector housing 10 so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction. The front end of each male terminal fitting 12 protrudes into the hood portion 11 and can contact a female terminal fitting (not shown) of the female connector housing 20. On the rear side of the female connector housing 20, the male terminal fittings 12 are bent downward and fitted into the through holes H of the circuit board P, and are fixed by soldering (not shown). A lower surface wall 13L of the hood portion 11 (one wall portion which is a component of the present invention) includes:
A lower cam pin 14L projecting upward from the inner surface is formed, while an upper cam pin 14U projecting upward from the outer surface is formed on the upper surface wall (the other wall portion, which is a component of the present invention) 13U. ing. In addition, a relief groove 15 is formed on the front edge of the upper surface wall 13U to avoid interference with a support shaft 24U described later.

The female connector housing 20 covers a holder 21 holding a plurality of female terminal fittings (not shown).
2 and a front end portion of the hood portion 1
1. Each of the female terminal fittings is positioned so as to correspond to a fitting hole 23 formed in the fitting surface of the cover 22, and when the two connector housings 10 and 20 are fitted, the male terminal fitting 12 passes through the fitting hole 23 and It comes into contact with terminal fittings. The upper and lower surfaces of the cover 22 have a large area and a small vertical dimension. Support shafts 24U and 24L are formed at substantially center positions on the upper surface and the lower surface of the cover 22, respectively. A spacer 25 is formed integrally with the support shaft 24U on the upper surface at a distance from the upper surface of the cover 22 that is slightly larger than the thickness of the upper surface wall 13U of the hood portion 11. The spacer 25 is orthogonal to the support shaft 24U and has a substantially disk shape, and the lever 30 is fitted to a portion of the support shaft 24U above the spacer 25. A relief portion 25A for avoiding interference with the cam pin 14U is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the spacer 25 by partially notching.

A region extending from the back surface to the right side surface of the cover 22 (a region extending from the upper surface to the left surface in FIGS. 5 and 6).
Is formed in an arc shape when viewed from above, and a guide groove (movement regulating means, which is a constituent element of the present invention) 26 is formed on the side surface of the arc shape so as to be concentric with the support shafts 24L and 24U. Have been. The guide groove 26 extends over the entire range of the rotation area of the lever 30. At one end of the guide groove 26, a rotation restricting portion 26A that protrudes largely and a temporary locking portion 26B that protrudes small are formed. The rotation restricting portion 26A restricts the rotation of the lever 30 at the rotation start position in the direction opposite to the direction in which the fitting of the connector housings 10 and 20 is advanced. The temporary locking portion 26B functions to temporarily hold the lever 30 at the rotation start position, and the temporary holding function of the temporary locking portion 26B is
Is released by applying a rotation operation force of a certain degree or more to the rotation direction. At the other end of the guide groove 26, a stopper 26C protruding outward is formed. The stopper 26C functions to restrict the rotation of the lever 30 in the return direction after the rotation of the lever 30 is completed.

The lever 30 is configured such that the distal ends of an upper arm portion (the other arm portion which is a component of the present invention) 31U and a lower arm portion (one arm portion which is a component of the present invention) 31L are connected to each other by an operating portion. It has a shape connected by 32. At the base ends of both arms 31L and 31U, bearing holes 33 are provided respectively.
Are formed to penetrate, and the bearing holes 33 are fitted to the support shafts 24L and 24U, respectively. As a result, the lever 30 is rotatably mounted with the arm portions 31L and 31U along the upper and lower surfaces of the female connector housing 20. In the mounted state, a receiving space 34 is formed between the upper arm portion 31U and the upper surface of the female connector housing 20 so that the upper wall 13U of the hood portion 11 can enter. Further, the movement of the arm 31U toward the receiving space 34 is restricted by the spacer 25. A spiral cam groove 35L centering on the bearing hole 33 is formed on the outer surface (lower surface) of the lower arm portion 31L (one arm portion that is a constituent feature of the present invention). On the other hand, a cam groove 35L symmetrical to the upper cam groove 35U is formed on the inner surface (lower surface) of the upper arm portion 31U (the other arm portion which is a constituent feature of the present invention). A guided portion (movement restricting means, which is a constituent element of the present invention) 36 is formed on the inner surface of the operation portion 32. It is fitted so that it can slide along. The guided portion 36 and the guide groove 2
The vertical movement of the operating portion 32 with respect to the female connector housing 20 is restricted by the engagement with the connector 6.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Before the two connector housings 10 and 20 are fitted together, the lever 30 is rotated to the rotation start position (see FIGS. 5 and 7), and the guided portion 36 of the lever 30 rotates with the temporary locking portion 26B. The lever 30 is held at the rotation start position by being engaged with the restricting portion 26A, and the cam grooves 35L and 35L are held.
The U inlet is located so as to open to the front side of the female connector housing 20. From this state, the two connector housings 10 and 20 are brought close to each other, and
When the front end of the cam pins 14L, 1U and the arms 31L, 31U of the lever 30 are fitted to the hood 11, the cam pins 14L, 1
4U is engaged with the cam grooves 35L and 35U.

At this time, the upper wall 13U of the hood 11 enters the receiving space 34 between the upper arm 31U and the female connector housing 20. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper arm portion 31U is
Is located on the outer surface side (upper side). On the other hand, on the lower surface wall 13L, the lower arm portion 31L is located along the inner surface thereof. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the lower arm portion 31 </ b> L enters the inside of the hood portion 11.

In this state, when the operating portion 32 is pinched and a turning force of a certain degree or more is applied to the lever 30, the guided portion 36
Moves over the temporary locking portion 26B and the temporary holding of the lever 30 by the temporary locking portion 26B is released. And lever 3
Along with the rotation of 0, the rotation operation force applied to the operation portion 32 is amplified by leverage with the support shafts 24L, 24U as fulcrums, and the cam grooves 35L, 35U and the cam pins 14L,
It acts on the engaging portion of 14U, and the cam action causes the two connector housings 10, 20 to be pulled together, whereby the fitting proceeds. Then, when the connector housings 10 and 20 reach a properly fitted state, the lever 30 reaches the rotation completed position (see FIGS. 6 and 8). In this state, the guided portion 3
6 is engaged with the stopper 26C, and the lever 30
Is held at the rotation completion position, whereby the connector housings 10 and 20 are locked in a properly fitted state.

When the connector housings 10 and 20 are detached from each other, if a rotational operation force in the opposite direction is strongly applied, the guided portion 36 rides over the stopper 26C and the lock by the stopper 26C is released, and the cam function is released. The connector housings 10 and 20 are forcibly separated from each other,
It returns to the rotation start state shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. Thereafter, the female connector housing 20 may be pulled out of the hood 11 by hand. As described above, in the present embodiment, the circuit board P is in close contact with the lower surface side of the hood portion 11 and the lower arm portion 31L cannot be located outside the hood portion 11, The upper and lower arms 31L and 31U are not inserted into the hood 11 but are inserted into the hood 11 only by the lower arm 31L. It is located outside of. Therefore, the height of the hood portion 11 is reduced as compared with a structure in which both the arm portions 31L and 31U enter the hood portion 11.

Further, in the receiving space 34 between the female connector housing 20 and the upper arm portion 31U, the movement of the arm portion 31U into the receiving space 34 by the spacer 25 is restricted. The space for entry of the upper surface wall 13U of the eleventh eleven is reliably secured. As a result, even when the direction in which the rotational operation force is applied to the lever 30 is deviated downward, the arm portion 31 </ b> U
Interference with 3U is prevented.

Further, when the lever 30 is rotated, the upper arm portion 31U and the lower arm portion 31L are engaged with the cam grooves 35L, 35U and the cam pins 14L, 14U.
Upward displacement force acts on both of the levers, and as a result, the lever 3
0 tends to shift upward with respect to the female connector housing 20 as a whole. However, the lever 30 is
Since the vertical movement of the female connector housing 20 with respect to the female connector housing 20 is restricted by the engagement between the lever 30 and the guided portion 36, the displacement of the lever 30 is prevented, and there is no risk of interfering with the cam operation and the rotation operation.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the lever is rotatably supported by fitting the bearing hole of the lever to the support shaft of the female connector housing. According to the present invention, the bearing hole formed in the female connector housing is provided. And the support shaft formed on the lever may be fitted.

(2) In the above embodiment, the guide groove is formed over the entire rotation region of the lever. However, according to the present invention, the guide groove may be formed only in the region where the fitting resistance increases. Good. (3) In the above embodiment, the floating control means of the female connector housing is groove-shaped. However, according to the present invention, the floating control means of the female connector housing is formed as a ridge, and the floating control means of the lever is formed as a groove. Is also good. (4) In the above embodiment, the shaft support means is constituted by the support shaft of the connector housing and the bearing hole of the lever. However, according to the present invention, the support shaft is provided in the lever and the bearing hole is provided in the connector housing. Is also good.

(5) In the above embodiment, the spacer is formed in a plate shape integral with the support shaft, but according to the present invention, the spacer is
The portion of the support shaft on the female connector housing side may be formed to have a stepped diameter larger than the inner diameter of the lever bearing hole,
Further, the spacer may be attached to the support shaft as a separate component from the support shaft.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a female connector housing and a lever according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a female connector housing and a lever.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the female connector housing and the male connector housing are not fitted.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which fitting between the female connector housing and the male connector housing has started.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state where a lever is at a rotation start position.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which both connector housings are properly fitted.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing a state in which the lever is at a rotation start position.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view showing a state where both connector housings are properly fitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 male connector housing 11 hood 13L bottom wall (one wall) 13U top wall (other wall) 14L cam pin 14U cam pin 20 female connector housing 25 spacer 26 guide groove ( 30: Lever 31L: Lower arm (one arm) 31U: Upper arm (other arm) 32: Operating part 34: Receiving space 35L: Cam groove 35U: Cam groove 36 ... Guided part (movement regulating means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] A male connector housing having a hood portion formed with a pair of cam pins; a female connector housing fittable in the hood portion; and a pair of arm portions formed with a cam groove connected by an operation portion. A lever rotatably attached to the female connector housing so as to straddle the female connector housing. The two connector housings are drawn by engaging the cam pins and the cam grooves with the rotation of the lever. A lever-type connector adapted to be brought into a fitted state, wherein one of said pair of opposed wall portions of said hood portion has one of said arm portions entering along its inner surface. And the other wall portion can enter a receiving space provided between the other arm portion and the female connector housing. Lever-type connector according to claim Rukoto. 2. A spacer is provided between said other arm portion and said female connector housing, the spacer restricting movement of said other arm portion into said receiving space. The lever type connector according to 1. 3. The female connector housing and the lever are provided with floating control means for controlling the floating of the lever in the direction of contact and separation with respect to the female connector housing by engaging with each other during the rotation of the lever. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, wherein the lever-type connector is provided.