JP3829615B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIGS. 13 to 15 show a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-74563. This connector is provided with a connector housing with lever 100 constituted by a lever 101 and a housing body 105, and a mating connector housing 102 that can be fitted to the connector housing with lever 100. The lever 101 is attached to the housing main body 105 so as to be rotatable, and a cam groove 103 is recessed. On the other hand, a cam pin 104 that can be inserted into the cam groove 103 projects from the mating connector housing 102. With the cam pin 104 inserted into the cam groove 103, the lever 101 is rotated to move the cam pin 104 along the cam groove 103, thereby moving the two housings 100 and 102 in the direction of fitting or separating. be able to.
[0003]
In this connector, when both the connector housings 100 and 102 are fitted, the cam pin 104 is inserted into the cam groove 103 and the lever 101 is rotated in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in this connector, it is necessary to provide a predetermined clearance at a portion where the two connector housings 100 and 102 come into contact with each other (the outer surface of the housing body 105 and the inner surface of the mating connector housing 102). Therefore, when the lever 101 is rotated in order to fit both the connector housings 100 and 102, the operation end portion 101A of the lever 101 extends in both the connector housings 100 and 102 as shown in FIG. In some cases, the applied side is closer than the opposite side (left side in FIG. 15). For this reason, both the connector housings 100 and 102 may be inclined to each other and may be out of the normal fitting position.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to regulate the fitting operation while tilting when fitting both housings in a connector provided with a lever. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can be assembled at a fitting position.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a connector according to the invention of claim 1 is a connector housing with a lever comprising a housing body and a lever that is rotatably assembled to the housing body and provided with a cam groove; A mating connector housing that includes a cam pin that can be inserted into the cam groove and that can be fitted to the connector housing with the lever, and the lever is capable of inserting the cam pin into the cam groove. And the cam pin is moved along the cam groove so that the connector housing can be rotated between a fitting completion position where the two connector housings are normal fitting positions. While the tilt restricting portion is provided, the lever is rotated from the fitting start position to the fitting completion position side in the mating connector housing. Not engaged with the tilt regulating part is halfway to the rotation the housing body, the rotation direction of further the lever than the counter position with respect to the mating connector housing when the fitting position of the normal A tilt restriction receiving portion that engages with the tilt restriction portion from immediately before the lever reaches the fitting completion position to the fitting completion position when the lever is tilted to the above posture. Features.
A connector according to a second aspect is the one according to the first aspect, wherein the connector is provided at a distal end portion in a direction opposite to the operation portion of the lever with respect to a rotation center of the lever. To do.
[0007]
Operation of the invention and effect of the invention
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to fit both the connector housings, the lever is turned to the mating completion position after the cam pin is inserted into the cam groove of the lever with the lever as the mating start position. Let Then, when the cam pins move along the cam grooves, the two connector housings move in the approaching direction, and when the lever rotates to the fitting completion position, the two connector housings reach the normal fitting position. Even when a force to tilt the two connector housings is applied during the fitting operation described above, the tilt restricting portion and the tilt restricting receiving portion provided on the lever and the mating connector housing are engaged. Thus, the relative tilting of both connector housings is restricted. For this reason, both connector housings are assembled in a proper fitting position without tilting.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the tilt restricting portion is provided at the distal end portion in the direction opposite to the lever operating portion with respect to the rotation center of the lever . For this reason, when generating a moment that opposes the moment to tilt both connector housings, it is possible to counteract with a smaller force than when the tilt restricting portion is provided at a position close to the rotation center of the lever. It becomes possible.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a state before the connector 1 of this embodiment is fitted. The connector 1 includes a connector housing 3 with a lever (hereinafter referred to as a housing with a lever) and a mating connector housing 4 (hereinafter referred to as a mating housing) that can be fitted to the housing 3 with a lever. Say). Unless otherwise specified in the following description, the direction in which the two housings 3 and 4 are fitted to each other in the housings 3 and 4 is the front (F) and the opposite direction is the rear (B), as indicated by the arrows in FIG. Left (L) or right (R) is shown.
[0009]
First, the configuration of both housings 3 and 4 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The lever-equipped housing 3 is formed separately from the lever 2 and the housing body 5, and the lever 2 is attached to the housing body 5 so as to be rotatable. The housing body 5 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a female terminal fitting (not shown) can be accommodated therein. A pair of shaft pins 7 project from left and right side walls 6 at the center upper end (rear end B) of the housing body 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the distal end portion of the shaft pin 7 is provided with an expansion restricting portion 7 </ b> A that protrudes radially outward and restricts the leg portion 13 of the lever 2 from expanding and deforming. When the bearing portion 8 of the lever 2 is fitted into the shaft pin 7, the lever 2 is assembled so as to be rotatable about the shaft pin 7.
[0010]
Further, the left and right side walls 6 are formed with rotation guide projections 9 at an equal distance from the shaft pin 7 so as to form an arc. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation guide protrusion 9 is divided into two parts at a lower end portion (a front end portion in the housing body 5). The turning guide protrusion 9 is slidably fitted into the guide receiving portion 33 of the lever 2 to guide the turning operation of the lever 2 smoothly. In addition, a pair of fitting guide protrusions 11 extend in the front-rear direction at both end portions of the left and right side walls 6. Each fitting guide protrusion 11 smoothly guides the fitting of the two housings 3 and 4 by fitting into the groove portion 12 provided in the mating housing 4.
[0011]
The lever 2 is integrally formed in a substantially U shape so as to sandwich the housing body 5 from the left and right directions. The lever 2 is provided with a pair of leg portions 13 attached along the left and right side walls 6 of the housing body 5 and an operation portion 14 for connecting one end portions of the both leg portions 13. The both leg portions 13 can be slightly elastically deformed in directions close to each other. Further, a substantially semicircular holding portion 15 is provided at the tip of the leg portion 13. Both sandwiching portions 15 are rotatable in a state in which the surfaces facing each other are in contact with the side wall 6 of the housing body 5. The central portion of the semicircle formed by the sandwiching portion 15 opens in the distal direction of the leg portion 13 (more precisely, the distal end direction opposite to the side where the operation portion 14 is provided in the leg portion 13). The bearing portion 8 is formed in a groove shape. The shaft pin 7 is fitted into the bearing portion 8 so as to be rotatable.
[0012]
Further, a tilt restricting portion 16 is provided on the front end side of the sandwiching portion 15. This tilt restricting portion 16 is a portion where the lever 2 is located inside the mating housing 4 when both the housings 3 and 4 reach the proper fitting position (in this embodiment, the entire sandwiching portion 15 is (It will be located inside the counterpart housing 4), and is provided at a position farthest from the shaft pin 7 which is the center of rotation of the lever 2. In addition, the tilt restricting portion 16 extends in the lever 2 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the operation portion 14 extends from the bearing portion 8, and the bearing portion 8, the operation portion 14, and the tilt restricting portion 16. Are provided in substantially the same straight line.
[0013]
Further, the tilt restricting portion 16 is formed at an intermediate portion between the two groove portions 34 and 35 cut from the tip of the sandwiching portion 15, and is slightly elastically deformed in the inner direction (the direction in which both the leg portions 13 are close to each other). It is possible. At the tip of the tilt restricting portion 16, an engaging projection 36 protrudes outward. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in an enlarged manner, the engaging protrusion 36 is provided with guide surfaces 36A and 36B in the downward direction and the bearing portion 8 direction. On the other hand, the upper direction (the direction in which it engages with the tilting regulation receiving portion 28 of the counterpart housing 4 described later) is a flat contact surface 36C.
[0014]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a cam groove 17 is provided at a position where the outer edge of the sandwiching portion 15 advances downward from the tilt restricting portion 16. The cam groove 17 is recessed in a predetermined shape from the outer edge of the clamping portion 15 toward the inside, and the cam pin 18 of the counterpart housing 4 can be fitted therein. The opening edge 17A of the cam groove 17 opens to the front side of the housing body 5 when the lever 2 reaches the fitting start position (position shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 8). Can be accepted.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a projecting portion 19 is provided at a position where the outer edge of the sandwiching portion 15 advances downward from the cam groove 17. The protrusion 19 is provided at a position slightly shifted to the right side from the vertically lower side of the bearing portion 8 when the leg portion 13 of the lever 2 is set in the horizontal direction (direction shown in FIG. 2). It can be brought into contact with the guide surface 20 of the housing 4.
[0015]
In FIG. 2, a connecting portion 21 is provided on the lower end side of the operation portion 14. The connecting portion 21 is slightly elastically deformable, and engages with a connecting protrusion 22 provided on the counterpart housing 4 to fix the lever 2 at the fitting completion position and to fit it inadvertently. The rotation in the direction of the starting position is restricted.
The counterpart housing 4 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is slightly larger than the lever-equipped housing 3 and is formed in a hood shape that is open to the front side. The mating housing 4 is formed symmetrically with respect to the center in the longitudinal direction, and the direction of the lever-equipped housing 3 is changed so that the protruding direction of the lever 2 is opposite to the direction shown in FIG. But it is possible to fit.
[0016]
A male terminal fitting 23 (only the tip is slightly shown in FIG. 1) is accommodated in the counterpart housing 4, and these terminal fittings 23 are female side accommodated in the housing 3 with lever. It can be connected to a terminal fitting (not shown). In the counterpart housing 4, a shaft pin receiving groove 25 is recessed at the center upper end of the left and right inner wall surfaces 24. The shaft pin receiving groove 25 accommodates the shaft pin 7 when both the housings 3 and 4 are fitted. The inner wall surface 24 is provided with a guide base portion 27 in a substantially fan shape with the shaft pin receiving groove 25 as the center. The guide stand 27 is formed so as to protrude slightly from the thin portion 26 in the direction of the internal space of the counterpart housing 4 by making the inner wall surface 24 around the thin portion into a thin portion 26. ing.
[0017]
The front end side of the guide base 27 is a guide surface 20 that is linearly inclined so as to expand in the radial direction about the shaft pin receiving groove 25 as it advances from the front to the rear of the counterpart housing 4. Is expanded to a predetermined position, and this time, the substantially arc-shaped substantially arc portion 29 (the projection 19 is formed so as to come into contact when the fitting operation of both the housings 3 and 4 proceeds). Therefore, it is formed so that it is not a circular arc). Furthermore, at the rear end portion of the substantially arc portion 29, a straight linear portion 31 is formed toward the rear end portion of the counterpart housing 4 as shown in FIG. Further, a joint portion between the guide surface 20 and the substantially arc portion 29 is a vertex portion 30, and a joint portion between the substantially arc portion 29 and the straight portion 31 is a recess portion 32.
[0018]
In addition, a pair of left and right cam pins 18 project from substantially the center of the guide base portion 27. Each cam pin 18 moves along the cam groove 17 in accordance with the turning operation of the lever 2, so that both the housings 3 and 4 move in the direction of approaching or separating.
Further, on the inner wall surface 24, a pair of tilt restrictions are provided at symmetrical positions with the cam pin 18 sandwiched between the outer portion where the thin portion 26 is formed (the side opposite to the side on which the guide base portion 27 is provided). A receiving portion 28 is provided.
[0019]
The tilt regulation receiving portion 28 includes a rear straight boundary portion 37 formed linearly from the rear end to the front end of the mating housing 4 at the boundary portion between the thin portion 26 and the inner wall surface 24, and the front end portion thereof. A step is formed between the front straight boundary portion 38 and the front straight boundary portion 38. That is, the front straight boundary portion 38 is provided in a direction closer to the shaft pin receiving groove 25 than the rear straight boundary portion 37, and the rear end edge of the front straight boundary portion 38 is located behind the counterpart housing 4. It faces to the end. This stepped portion is a small planar tilt regulation receiving portion 28 that extends downward in the figure. The tilt restriction receiving portion 28 comes into contact with the contact surface 36C provided on the tilt restriction portion 16 of the lever 2 when both the housings 3 and 4 reach the proper fitting position. (Details will be described later).
[0020]
Next, operations and effects of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, prior to the fitting operation of both the housings 3 and 4, terminal fittings connected to the end portions of the electric wires (not shown) are attached to the respective housings 3 and 4. Further, in the housing 3 with lever, after the lever 2 is attached to the housing body 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the fitting completion position in which the extending direction of the lever 2 and the rear end edge of the housing body 5 are matched. Evacuate to In this fitting completion position, the degree of protrusion of the lever 2 from the housing body 5 is reduced compared to the fitting start position shown in FIG. 8, so that deformation and breakage of the lever 2 can be avoided. Yes.
[0021]
Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the housings 3 and 4 are opposed to each other, and the housing with lever 3 is pushed into the counterpart housing 4 as shown in FIG. Make 3 and 4 close. At this time, the protrusion 19 of the lever 2 is in contact with the upper end portion of the guide surface 20 of the counterpart housing 4. When both the housings 3 and 4 are in the positions shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, since the joining of the terminal fittings inside the both housings 3 and 4 is not started, a large fitting force is not required.
[0022]
In this state, when the pushing operation is further performed so that both the housings 3 and 4 are close to each other, the protrusion 19 is guided by the guide surface 20 so that the operation portion 14 of the lever 2 is positioned above the shaft pin 7. Further, the entire lever 2 rotates about the shaft pin 7 as a rotation center. Thus, when the housings 3 and 4 are pushed into a predetermined position, the lever 2 reaches the fitting start position as shown in FIG. At this time, the protrusion 19 is positioned on the substantially arcuate portion 29 side at the apex portion 30.
[0023]
From here, as shown by the arrow A in FIG. 8, the operating portion 14 of the lever 2 is rotated downward. Then, as the lever 2 rotates, the cam pin 18 moves along the cam groove 17 and the housings 3 and 4 move closer to each other (see FIG. 9). At this time, in the housings 3 and 4, the fittings between the terminal fittings are proceeding. At this time, the protrusion 19 moves along the substantially arc portion 29.
When the fitting operation of both the housings 3 and 4 further proceeds, the tilt restricting portion 16 of the lever 2 comes close to the tilt restricting receiving portion 28 of the counterpart housing 4 as shown in FIG. Then, immediately before both housings 3 and 4 reach the proper fitting positions (or at an earlier stage when both housings 3 and 4 are tilted), the contact surface 36 </ b> C provided on the tilt restricting portion 16. And the tilting regulation receiving portion 28 are in contact with each other substantially in contact with the surface. For this reason, even when a force is exerted to cause the housings 3 and 4 to tilt in a state where they are tilted with respect to the normal fitting position, the housings 3 and 4 act between the contact surface 36C and the tilt regulation receiving portion 28. The tilting of the housings 3 and 4 is restricted by the drag.
[0024]
Thus, as shown in FIG. 12, when the lever 2 is rotated to the fitting completion position where the extending direction of the lever 2 and the rear end edge of the housing body 5 coincide, the two housings 3 and 4 are properly fitted. At the position, the fitting operation is completed and the assembly of the connector 1 is completed. At this time, the connecting portion 21 of the lever 2 is engaged with the connecting protrusion 22 of the counterpart housing 4, and the lever 2 is restricted from rotating in the direction of the fitting start position. At this time, the protrusion 19 is located in the recess 32.
Thus, according to this embodiment, in order to fit both the housings 3 and 4, the lever 2 is set to the fitting start position, the cam pin 18 is inserted into the cam groove 17 of the lever 2, and then the lever 2 is moved. Turn in the direction of the mating completion position. Then, when the cam pin 18 moves along the cam groove 17, both housings 3, 4 move toward each other, and when the lever 2 is rotated to the fitting completion position, both housings 3, 4 are properly fitted. It reaches the joint position.
[0025]
Even when a force for tilting the two housings 3 and 4 is applied during the fitting operation, the tilt restricting portion 16 and the tilt restricting receiving portion 28 provided on the lever 2 and the counterpart housing 4 are provided. And the relative tilting of the housings 3 and 4 is restricted. For this reason, both the housings 3 and 4 are assembled | attached to the regular fitting position, without tilting.
Further, the tilt restricting portion 16 is provided at a position farthest from the rotation center of the lever 2. For this reason, when generating a moment that opposes the moment to tilt both housings 3 and 4, when the tilt restricting portion 16 is provided at a position close to the shaft pin 7 that is the rotation center of the lever 2. In comparison, it is possible to counteract with a smaller force.
[0026]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented by being modified as follows, for example. Further, the technical scope of the present invention extends to an equivalent range.
In this embodiment, the housing with lever 3 is a female connector housing, and the mating housing 4 is a male connector housing. However, according to the present invention, the male and female connector housings are reversed to A male connector housing may be used, and the mating connector housing may be a female connector housing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view before mating of a connector in the present embodiment (however, for convenience of explanation, the lever is at a mating start position).
FIG. 2 is an exploded side view of the connector (a cross-sectional side view of the mating connector housing).
3 is a plan view of the housing main body. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the inside of the circle R in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the right half when the lever is viewed from the arrow B direction in FIG. Side sectional view showing how the connector housing is fitted (1) (side sectional view for the mating connector housing, the same applies hereinafter)
FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view (2) showing a state in which both connector housings are fitted together.
FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view (3) showing a state where both connector housings are fitted together;
FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view (4) showing a state in which both connector housings are fitted together.
FIG. 10 is a side sectional view (5) showing a state when both connector housings are fitted together.
FIG. 11 is a side sectional view (6) showing a state when both connector housings are fitted together.
FIG. 12 is a side cross-sectional view when both connector housings are in a proper mating state. FIG. 13 is a perspective view before mating the connectors in the conventional example. FIG. 14 is mated with both connector housings in the conventional example. FIG. 15 is a side view showing a state when the connector housings are fitted together in the conventional example. FIG. 15 is a side view showing a state where the connector housing is tilted from the normal fitting position.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector 2 ... Lever 3 ... Connector housing 4 with lever ... Counterpart connector housing 5 ... Housing main body 16 ... Tilt regulation part 17 ... Cam groove 18 ... Cam pin 28 ... Tilt regulation receiving part

Claims (2)

A lever-equipped connector housing having a housing body and a lever that is rotatably attached to the housing body and provided with a cam groove, and a cam pin that can be inserted into the cam groove. A mating connector housing that can be fitted to each other, and the lever is a fitting start position where the cam pin can be inserted into the cam groove, and the cam pin is moved along the cam groove to move both the connector housings. Is a connector that can be rotated between a mating completion position and a normal mating position,
While the lever is provided with a tilt restricting portion, the counterpart connector housing is provided with the tilt restricting portion until the lever is rotated from the fitting start position to the fitting completion position. when not engaged, the housing body has tilted the posture further rotates in the rotating direction of the lever than the counter position with respect to the mating connector housing when the fitting position of the normal to, The connector is provided with a tilt restriction receiving portion that engages with the tilt restriction portion from immediately before the lever reaches the fitting completion position to the fitting completion position.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the tilt restricting portion is provided at a tip portion in a direction opposite to the operation portion of the lever with respect to a rotation center of the lever.

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