WO2010049761A1

WO2010049761A1 - Mate-assist with an off-centre lever

Info

Publication number: WO2010049761A1
Application number: PCT/IB2008/055371
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rainer Schmidt
Original assignee: Fci
Priority date: 2008-10-31
Filing date: 2008-10-31
Publication date: 2010-05-06
Also published as: EP2362974B1; CN202183512U; EP2362974A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a connector arrangement comprising a first connector housing (10) and a mateable second connector housing (40) as well as a lever (30) pivotably mountable to the first connector housing, which lever comprises two parallel arms (31) being connected by a handle member (33) to assist in the mating of the first and second connector housings. The lever arms (31) are provided each with a flange (32) at their free ends and the first connector housing comprises corresponding keyways (12) adapted to receive the flanges (32) to guide a rotational motion of the lever (30) with respect to the first connector housing (10). Grooves (34, 35) provided in the flanges (32) engage spigots (11, 41) provided respectively on the first and second connector housings for moving them in a mated or unmated positions.

Description

Mate-assist with an off-centre lever.

1. Field of the invention

The invention relates to a connector arrangement with a pivotable lever to assist mating a first and a complementary second connector housings.

2. Technical background

In many technical fields suitable electrical or optical connections are required between electronic devices. Connectors are often used to that purpose. Connectors usually allow a reversible connecting, plugging in or junction between cables, devices or cables and devices. For certain applications, it is required to reduce the force needed for the mating and/or to provide locking means between the connector and the counterpart connector.

In particular, in the automotive industry, connectors provided with sealing joints require very often large mating forces, to achieve a reliable sealing of the connector. Further, in awkward assembly locations, as for example in a crowded engine compartment of a modern vehicle, the coupling of any kind of connector may cause a problem, even if only relatively small coupling forces have to be overcome. Still further, a large range of new safety and comfort features were developed and introduced in passenger cars, all requiring a connection to electronic control arrangements and the power supply of the vehicle. The increasing number of electrical and electronic devices led to the necessity of increasingly large connector arrangements to allow a connection of the resulting large number of signal lines. This increase of electrical contacts to be mated when coupling a connector arrangement increases in turn the force necessary to close the connection between two complementary connector housings. The large coupling forces necessary to close the connectors, respectively couple the connectors, causes a problem in modern assembly lines, in particular in situations, in which the location of the connectors to be coupled is difficult to access manually.

The patent document EP 0 731 536 A2 discloses an arrangement comprising first and second mateable connector housings, wherein the first connector housing is provided with a pivoting lever. The lever is formed as a U-shaped member which engages around the first housing and is hinged thereto by means of pivot pins engaging a corresponding pivoting recess provided in the housing. The lever has two cam grooves in the form of spiral grooves. A first cam groove engages a pin or peg provided on the second connector housing and a second cam groove engages a pin or peg provided on the first connector housing. During the rotation of the lever the pins provided on the connector housings move into the cam grooves and are forced thereby towards each other. In this way the second connector housing is pulled into the first connector housing thus facilitating the coupling of the two connectors.

The known solutions of the prior art with regard to mate-assist devices function satisfactorily, but still offer room for improvement. It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the known connector arrangements with mating assist devices and in particular to provide a new solution for a connector arrangement with mating assist device which allows a particularly compact construction.

These and other objects, which become apparent upon reading the following description, are achieved with a connector arrangement according to claim 1.

3. Summary of the invention

According to the invention a connector arrangement is provided comprising a first connector housing and a mateable or complementary second connector housing as well as a lever, which is pivotably mountable to the first connector housing to assist in the mating of the first and second housings. The lever comprises preferably two parallel arms, which are being connected at their ends by a handle member to form a generally U-shaped structure. According to the invention, the lever arms are each provided with a flange at their free ends, which flange is provided with a first cam groove, which is adapted to receive a first spigot provided on the second connector housing. The first connector housing comprises correspondingly shaped keyways, in the form of recesses, to receive the flanges of the lever arms and to guide the same, such that the lever may be rotated with respect to the first connector housing.

Due to the construction of a (recessed) keyway provided in the connector housing and a corresponding flange provided on the lever arm the present invention allows to mount the lever rotatably on the first connector housing without the necessity for any pivoting pin arrangement as it was necessary in the prior art. In this way it becomes easier to provide each flange with a groove which is closer to the flange centre. Such an arrangement provides an improvement in terms of compactness. Further, typical problems associated with pivoting pin arrangements are avoided, such as that the accidental shearing-off of pivoting pins or the unintended removal of pivoting pins from their corresponding pivoting holes or recesses. Optionally, for increasing the mating stroke, while optimizing the compactness, a second cam slot is provided on each flange and a second spigot is provided on the first connector, the second cam slot and the second spigot providing means for pulling up the flanges during the mating so as to pull further the first spigot and consequently the second connector toward the first connector.

The keyways are then provided on the first connector housing in an adapted way for guiding a translatory motion of the lever with respect to the first connector housing. Thus, flange and corresponding keyway are shaped such that the flange may rotate inside of the keyway and is at the - A -

same time guided linearly on the connector housing. The advantages of this arrangement are described in more detail below under reference to the enclosed figures.

Optionally, the cam grooves provided on the flange(s) have the shape of portions of spiral and are partially circling a centre of the flange(s), such that one end point of the grooves is radially farther away from the centre than the other end point. In this way, by rotating the lever the first respectively second spigots engaged therein can be moved relative to each other, thus moving the connector housings towards or away from each other. Optionally, the first and the second connector housings as well as the lever are each integrally formed as injection-moulded plastic parts. Alternatively, it is also possible to assemble these parts from components, which may be connected with each other for example by means of ultrasonic welding or similar.

In all the embodiments described herein, it is preferred that the keyway is adapted to receive the circular member to such an extend, that the outer face of the circular member it at least to some extend flush with the connector housing. In this way a particular secure connector arrangement is achieved since large parts of the lever are "buried" in the first connector housing and the lever is thus less vulnerable against an unintentional separation. Further, in all the embodiments described herein, the connector arrangement preferably comprises latching means, to secure the lever in its end position (and preferably also in its starting position) and the connector arrangement preferably further comprises a release member, which can be manually actuated to release the lever from its secured end position. The term "end position" is used herein to describe the position of the lever when first and second connector housings are moved towards due to an actuating of the lever. One preferred means to secure the lever in its end position is to provide the first connector housing with a locking projection and the lever with a corresponding locking recess, which are adapted to interact with each other, when the lever is in its end position. The lever is for example pushed by force over the locking projection until the projection is arranged inside of the recess. Obviously, it is also possible to provide the projection on the lever and the recess on the housing and/or to provide several locking projections and/or locking recesses on housing and lever, as necessary.

4. Description of the preferred embodiments

In the following the invention it is described exemplarily with reference to the enclosed figures, in which

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a connector arrangement according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 A and B are further schematic illustrations showing a first connector housing and a lever according to the present invention;

Fig. 3A - D are side views showing the lever in operation;

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second connector; and

Fig. 5 is another schematic illustration of the housing of Fig. 2 A rotate by 90°.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a first housing and a lever of a connector arrangement according to the present invention. The reference number 10 denotes a first connector housing which is provided with a lever 30, which is pivotably mounted to the housing. The housing 10 comprises two channels 20 adapted to receive cables or wires to be connected by the connector arrangement. It should be noted that the embodiment shown in the figures is symmetrical and that all the details visible in the view of Fig. 1 are likewise present on the opposite side facing away from the observer. The lever 30 of this embodiment is a single injection moulded plastic part comprising two lever arms 31 (only one is visible in Fig. 1), each being provided with a flange 32 at its free end (see also Fig. 2). The lever arms 31 are connected by means of a handle member 33 so that the overall structure of the lever has essentially a U-shape. The flange 32 is further provided with a first cam groove 34 and a second cam groove 35. As one can see from Fig. 1 and Fig. 2A and 2B, both cam grooves have the shape of spirals or circle sections partly encircling the centre of the flange 32, but off-centre with regard to this centre. Further, in the embodiment described in this document, the top end point of groove 35 in Fig. 1 is farther away from the centre of flange 32 than the lower end point in the embodiment shown. A rotational movement of the lever 30 results in a mating assist function, as it will be explained in more detail below. As mentioned, since the arrangement is symmetrical, another corresponding flange 32 is present on the opposite side of the connector housing 10. The housing 10 comprises a second spigot 11, which is arranged such that it interacts with the second cam groove 35. Again, it should be noted, that in the embodiment shown another second spigot 11 is symmetrically arranged on the opposite side of the connector housing 10, which interacts with the corresponding second cam groove provided on the other flange of the lever 30. The housing 10 comprises a keyway or key-groove 12 recessed into its outer surface and adapted to interact with the flange 32, as will be explained in more detail below under reference to Fig. 2 and 3. In Fig. 2B the bottom of housing 10 can be seen and an entrance or aperture 19 for the reception of a second (complementary) connector housing. Figs. 2 A and 2B show the connector housing 10 with the lever 30 removed from it. Fig. 2B shows the same arrangement as Fig. 2A turned upside down. As one can see from Fig. 2, the keyway 12 has the shape of a longitudinal, oblong groove or recess with two parallel longitudinal walls 13 and two curved end walls 14 and 14', wherein the radii of the curved end walls corresponds to the radii of the flange 32. In this way the flange 32, and thus the whole lever 30, can rotate inside of the key way 12 and is at the same time securely guided by the walls of the keyway. More precisely, the flange 32 has an outer guiding rim 50 (see Fig. 2A) extending in a plan essentially perpendicular to the pivot axis of the lever 30. The guiding rim 50 has a cylindrical surface essentially parallel to the pivot axis. In fact, in the embodiment describe in this document, the pivot axis is not fixed. The pivot axis passes essentially through both flange centres but a translational movement parallel to the mating direction, while the lever is rotated. It should be noted that each keyway could also be provided in form of a round recess corresponding to the flange 12 and still provide a mating assist function. The arrangement shown in the figures allows guiding the rotational motion of the lever 30 with respect to the first connector housing and guiding the translatory motion of the lever, namely from one curved wall 14 to the other 14'. The skilled person will understand, that this additional freedom of movement allows an additional "pulling" effect during the mating with the second connector housing (shown in Fig. 3A to 3D). The first cam groove 34 is provided with an entrance 36, which starts from a radial edge of the flange 32 such that the entrance 36 of the groove is open to receive the first spigot 11 provided on the second connector housing, as will be explained below with reference to Fig. 3A to 3D. As one can derive from Figs. 1 and 2A/B, the lever arms 31 and the flanges 32 engage the first connector housing 10 from two opposite sides thereof and the lever arms 31 as well as the two flanges 32 are arranged parallel to each other and encompass the first connector housing 10, such that the first connector housing is arranged between the lever arms 31. The housing 10 is further provided with a locking projection 15, which is adapted to interact with a corresponding locking recess 37 provided on the lever to secure the lever in the pre-latched condition shown in Fig. 1. This prevents an unintentional rotation of the lever out of the pre-latched condition before the assembly with the second connector housing. The connector hous- ing comprises a further locking projection 16 (shown in Fig. 5), which interacts with a further locking recess or shoulder 38 provided on the lever, to provide for a locking function, when the lever is in its end position (shown in Fig. 3D). While the latching or locking of lever 30 with housing 10 in the pre-latching condition shown in Fig. 1 and 3 A can be overcome by simply pushing the lever 30 hard enough anti-clockwise in the figures, the latching or locking of lever 30 with housing 10 in the end position of the lever is not so easily overcome. As an additional security means against an unintentional unlatching of lever 30 from its end position, the connector housing 10 is provided with a release member 18 in the form of two spring arms, which have to be manually pushed towards each other to move the locking projection 16 out of the locking recess 38 of lever 30, so that lever 30 can be rotated back into its initial position, i.e. clock-wise in the figures. Thus, in the construction shown in the figures, a release member is provided, which has to be manually activated to release the lever from its secured end position.

One can further derive from Fig. 2A/B that the second cam groove 35 is provided in the form of a "through-hole", whereas the first cam groove 34 is only partially a "through-hole" and instead closed in the area of entrance 36. In this way the construction of the lever 30 is more robust. It should be clear, that all the cam grooves can be provided in form of open grooves (slots) or closed grooves, i.e. such that the outer faces of the flanges 32, i.e. those faces, which are directed away from the first connector housing in assembled condition (shown in Fig. 1), are closed. The main function of the cam grooves is to interact with the spigots, for which they do not necessarily have to be provided in form of through-holes. Through holes may make the lever 10 easier to mould.

The function of the connector arrangement and the operation of the lever of the present invention will now be explained under reference to Figs. 3 A to 3D. One can also refer to EP 0 731 536 A2 for the description of the principle of the interaction between cam grooves and spigots. In Figs. 3A- D, a second connector housing 40 is shown, which is partially inserted into first connector housing 10, although the connector housings are not yet fully mated. The second connector housing 40 comprises a first spigot 41, which interacts with the first cam groove 34 of the lever. In Fig. 3 A, the area around the first spigot 41 is partially shown transparent to allow a clear view of the arrangement of the first spigot 41 in entrance 36 of flange 32. The distance between first and second cam slot is indicated by "x". From Fig. 3 A the skilled person will understand, why the first cam groove 34 is provided with an open entrance 36, namely to allow the insertion of the first spigot 41 into the first cam groove. Upon rotation of the lever 30 in anti-clockwise direction in the figures, the first spigot 41 will interact with the first cam groove 34. Such features would be sufficient for pulling the second connector toward the first connector in order to mate them. With an embodiment in which the lever has only one guiding groove in each flange, the second connector has a spigot on each side and the flanges and keyways have a circular shape, one would obtain a very compact connector provided with a mate assist arrangement. But in order, to increase the translatory stroke of the second connector relatively to the first connector, the connector arrangement of the embodiment represented on the figures comprises second came grooves 35, second spigots 11 and oblong keyways, the first and second came grooves having an end closer to the centre of the respective flanges than the opposite end. The second spigot 11 interacts with the second cam groove 35. Due to the shape and arrangement of the cam grooves, the rotation of the lever 30 will pull the second housing 40 by means of the first spigot 41 upwards in the figures towards first connector housing 10 as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 3B-D. In the end position shown in Fig. 3D first and second connector housing are fully mated. In the end position of Fig. 3D the distance between first and second spigot is indicated by "y" and the distance "w" travelled by the second connector housing (or the length by which both connector housing are moved relative to each other) is correspondingly "w = x - y". One can further see from a comparison of Fig. 3B to 3D, that lever 30, respectively flange 32, did not only rotate by 90° anti-clockwise, but also moved upwards in the figures towards the circular end wall 14' of keyway 12. This is achieved by the longitudinal shape of the keyway which offers an additional freedom of movement for the lever. Due to this specific shape of the keyway, the second cam slot 35 can be provided with an off-centre shape, as show on the Figures, and the second housing 40 can be moved for an additional distance by the lever, namely the distance, which flange 32 moved upwards in the figures.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic partially cut view of the second, complementary housing 40. The housing is adapted to be inserted into opening 19 of first connector housing 10 and provided with two differently shaped coding ribs 42, 43 to prevent a wrong insertion.

Coming back to Fig. 1, one can see that keyway 12 is adapted to receive the flange 32 to such an extend, that the outer face of the flange, i.e. the face showing away from first connector housing 10, is flush with the connector housing. In this way not only a very compact design is achieved but also a very secure one, since lever 30 offers less potential contact points for an unintended removal of the lever from its position on housing 10. One can further see from Figs. 2A/B, that the flange 32 is thicker than the portion 31 of the lever, which is connected with the handle. Also this arrangement allows arranging flange 32 safe inside or "buried" in keyway 12.

As the skilled person will recognize, the present invention allows a construction of a mate-assist device, which does not need any pivoting elements, i.e. pivoting pins and recesses, (e.g. provided in the centre of the flange) for guiding the rotation of the lever 30. Instead, the movement of lever 30, whether rotational and/or translatory, is achieved by correspondingly shaped keyways 12 and flanges 32. Further, contrarily to levers know from the prior art, where slots in the flanges are arranged around the pivot means, typically spigots and holes centred on the pivot axis of the flanges, in the present invention the grooves extend inside the surface of the flange delimited by the guiding rim 50, i.e. inside the pivot means here materialized by the outer guiding rims and the keyways.

When assembling the connector arrangement, first lever 30 is manually mounted to connector housing 10, e.g. by pulling the lever arms 31 apart to some extend and then pushing lever 30 over and around the housing 10. To facilitate the mounting of lever 30 to housing 10, the same is provided with chamfered outer walls 19. In the embodiment shown in the figures, the connector housing 10 has a generally rectangular cross section and the chamfered walls 19 are provided on the four corners of the rectangular cross section.

The embodiment shown in the figures is produced from injection-moulded plastic parts. However, it is also possible to assemble first and second connector housing as well as the lever from several parts. Further, it is clear for the skilled person that the arrangement shown in the figures can be positioned in any desired orientation so that the expressions "clock-wise", "anti-clockwise", "upwards" etc. are merely used in connection with the exemplary orientation shown in the figures to facilitate the description thereof.

It should be noted that a round shape of the guiding rims and the keyways is not necessary for achieving the main object of the invention. One could use forms deviating from the strict circle shape, such as oval forms, sectors of a circle or circular shapes with cut-outs or flattened edges etc., as long as the shape allows a rotational movement of the flanges in the keyways.

Claims

1. A connector arrangement comprising:

• a first connector housing (10) and a second connector housing (40),

• a lever (30) comprising at least one lever arm (31) and at least one flange (32) at one end of the arm (31), which flange (32) being pivotably mounted on the first connector housing,

• at least one first groove (34) extending in a surface of the flange (32) which is essentially perpendicular to a pivot axis, and

• at least one first spigot (41) on the second connector housing for engaging the second groove (34) to assist the mating or unmating of the first and second connector housings when the lever (30) is pivoted, characterized in that

• the flange (32) has an outer guiding rim (50) extending in a plan essentially perpendicular to the pivot axis and having a surface essentially parallel to the pivot axis,

• the first groove (34) extends inside the surface of the flange delimited by the guiding rim and

• the first connector housing comprises at least one keyway (12) in the form of a recess adapted to receive and guide the outer guiding rim when the lever (30) pivots with respect to the first connector housing (10).

2. Connector arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the flange comprises a second groove (35) extending inside the surface of the flange delimited by the guiding rim and engaging a second spigot (11).

3. Connector arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first and second cam grooves (34, 35) are arranged in the flange (32) in such a way that when the first and second spigots (11, 41) are engaged with their respective grooves, a rotation of the lever (30) moves the first and the second spigots towards each other.

4. Connector arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein each cam groove (34, 35) corresponds to a portion of a spiral shape encircling the centre of the flanges (32) such that one end point of each groove is radially farther away from the centre than the other end point.

5. Connector arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the keyway (12) is further adapted to guide a translatory motion of the lever (30) with respect to the first connector housing (10).

6. Connector arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the guiding rim is circular, wherein the keyway (12) has the shape of a recess with two parallel longitudinal walls (13) and two curved end walls (14, 14'), and wherein the radii of the curved end walls (14, 14') corresponds to the radii of the flanges (32).

7. Connector arrangement according to any preceding claim, further comprising latching means (16, 38) to secure the lever in its end position and a release member (18) which can be manually activated to release the lever (30) from its secured end position.

8. Connector arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein no pivoting elements are provided in the centre of the flanges (12) for guiding the rotation of the lever (30).