JP3706312B2 - Connector lever temporary locking structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lever temporary locking structure for a connector having a lever in one of a pair of male and female connectors.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a male and female connector as shown in FIG. 12 has been proposed. This connector includes a first connector 102 attached to an instrument panel 101 such as an automobile, and a second connector 103 fitted to the first connector 102.
[0003]
In the first connector 102, a pair of engaging levers 106 and 106 are rotatably attached to a support shaft 105 formed on the connector main body 104, and a front engaging protrusion 107 and a rear engaging member formed on the engaging levers 106 and 106 are mounted. The instrument 101 is attached to the instrument 101 so as to sandwich the instrument 101 with the projection 108. The engaging lever 106 is provided with a temporary locking arm 106 </ b> A, and the temporary locking arm 106 </ b> A is temporarily locked to a temporary locking projection 104 </ b> A protruding from the connector main body 104. The connector main body 104 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, and female terminals are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers.
[0004]
The second connector 103 is formed as a hood part fitted to the first connector 102, and a plurality of male terminals 113 connected to the female terminals are arranged in the hood part. The second connector 103 is formed with a guide groove 110 that guides the engagement protrusion 109 provided on the engagement lever 106 when the second connector 103 is inserted by being pressed against the first connector 102. Further, at the center of the upper and lower inner walls of the second connector 103, when the first connector 102 is inserted into the hood, the temporary locking arm 106A is lifted from the connector body 104, and the temporary locking arm 106A and the temporary locking projection 104A. A temporary locking release plate 114 for releasing the temporary locking is formed.
[0005]
In addition, the second connector 103 is formed with engagement receiving portions 112 and 112 that contact the lever rotation protrusions 111 provided on the engagement levers 106 and 106 to rotate the engagement levers 106 and 106. .
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described connector, as shown in FIG. 13, when the first connector 102 and the second connector 103 in which the engagement levers 106 and 106 are temporarily locked are operated to be fitted, When the connector 103 is inclined with respect to the first connector 102, the release timing of the pair of engaging levers 106 and 106 by the temporary locking release plate 114 formed on the second connector 102 is shifted. was there. When the release timings of the engagement levers 106 and 106 are thus shifted, when the connectors are fitted together, the bending load of the temporary lock arm 106A due to the temporary lock release becomes remarkably responsive, as shown in FIG. As shown in the graph, there is a concern that the fitting operation becomes a so-called double feeling. For this reason, there is a possibility that the operator stops fitting between the connectors in the middle of fitting and cannot completely connect the connectors.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention provides a connector lever temporary locking structure that prevents the release timing from shifting between a pair of levers when the connectors are fitted together, thereby preventing a so-called double feeling. The purpose is that.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, one connector having a pair of engaging levers rotatably supported on the connector main body is attached to the attachment portion in a state where the pair of engaging levers are temporarily fixed to the connector main body. A connector lever temporary locking structure that is temporarily fixed and the other connector is fitted to the one connector while releasing the temporary locking state of the engagement lever, and the connector main body has the pair of engagement levers. A temporary locking arm having a lever temporary locking projection that temporarily locks the first locking lever, and a releasing projection that is pressed to the other connector side is formed on the temporary locking arm. It is characterized by being.
[0009]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the other connector starts to be fitted to the one connector, the release protrusion formed on the temporary locking arm is pressed and the temporary locking arm is It is deflected. Along with this, the lever temporary locking projections that have temporarily locked the pair of engaging levers move together with the temporary locking arms, and the pair of engaging levers can be released simultaneously. For this reason, a pair of engaging levers can be temporarily locked by one temporary locking arm, and even if the other connector is obliquely fitted to one connector, the temporary locking is released when the connector is fitted. It is possible to prevent the so-called double feeling that the arm deflection load appears as a response.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 2 is the lever temporary locking structure of the connector according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the release protrusion that contacts the other connector is an inclined surface. .
[0011]
Therefore, in the invention according to claim 2, since the surface of the release protrusion that contacts the other connector is an inclined surface, the release load for releasing the temporary locking can be reduced.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the details of the lever temporary locking structure of the connector according to the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
[0013]
1 to 11 show an embodiment of a connector provided with a lever temporary locking structure according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector support mechanism according to the present embodiment includes an attached portion 10 that is an instrument panel provided on the side of a stay member of an automobile, for example, and a first connector 20 attached to the attached portion 10. The second connector 50 coupled to the first connector 20 is generally configured.
[0014]
(Configuration of mounted portion 10)
First, the structure of the to-be-attached part 10 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mounted portion 10 as seen from the front side. In addition, in this embodiment, although the attached part 10 prepared separately is fixed and used to the stay member of a motor vehicle, it is the structure by which the attached part 10 is integrally formed in the stay member. Also good.
[0015]
A substantially rectangular mounting hole 11 is formed in the mounted portion 10. Specifically, the mounted hole 11 is formed in the bottom plate 12 of a recess that is recessed backward from the mounted portion 10 and is parallel to the mounted portion 10. That is, the mounting hole 11 is formed at the bottom of the recess formed so as to bulge backward from the mounted portion 10. As shown in FIG. 1, front engaging portion insertion notches 13, 13, 14, 14 are formed at positions corresponding to the upper and lower edges of the mounting hole 11. A front engagement portion positioning rib 15 is formed between the front engagement portion insertion notches 13 and 14 at the upper and lower edges of the mounting hole 11. The front engagement portion positioning rib 15 is disposed in the vicinity of the front engagement portion insertion notch 14.
[0016]
(Configuration of the first connector 20)
Next, the configuration of the first connector 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. The first connector 20 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped first connector main body 21 and a pair of engaging levers 30 and 40 that are rotatably supported on the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector main body 21. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the first connector body 21, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the first connector body 21. 4 is a perspective view of one engagement lever 30 and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the other engagement lever 40. The first connector main body 21 and the engaging lever 30 are both made of synthetic resin.
[0017]
The first connector 20 is inserted and engaged with the above-described mounted portion 10 from the rear side of the mounting hole 11 as described later.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first connector main body 21 has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 22 formed along the front-rear direction. A female terminal fitting (not shown) is accommodated and held in each of the terminal accommodating chambers 22. These female terminal fittings are coupled to the male terminal fitting 51 on the second connector 50 side to be electrically connected.
[0019]
On both side portions in the width direction on the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector main body 21, guide projections 23 guided into the second connector 50 are formed along the front-rear direction. The guide protrusions 23 and 23 formed on the upper surface of the first connector main body 21 protrude upward, and the guide protrusions 23 and 23 formed on the lower surface of the first connector main body 21 are It protrudes downward.
[0020]
Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the rotation support shaft 24 for supporting the levers 30 and 40 for rotation so that rotation is possible is provided in the corner part of the upper and lower surfaces in the 1st connector main body 21 so that rotation is possible. ing.
[0021]
Furthermore, a temporary locking arm 25 that temporarily locks the engaging levers 30 and 40 together is provided at the entire center of the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector main body 21. These temporary locking arms 25 are formed so as to rise from the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector main body 21 at the front end portion and extend backward, and bend with a repulsive property in the vertical direction. Moreover, lever temporary locking projections 25A and 25A are formed on both sides in the arm width direction on the outer side surfaces of the rear end portions of these temporary locking arms 25 and 25, and these lever temporary locking projections 25A and 25A are mutually connected. A release protrusion 25B is provided at a position between the two. The lever temporary locking projections 25A and 25A are configured to temporarily lock the engaging levers 30 and 40. Further, the release protrusion 25B is pushed down toward the first connector body 21 side on the second connector 50 side by the fitting of the first connector 20 and the second connector 50, and the engagement levers 30, 40 and Are temporarily released. The front portion of the release protrusion 25B is formed on an inclined surface that is obliquely engaged with a release rib 53 of the second connector 50 described later. By forming the inclined surface on the release protrusion 25B in this way, there is an effect of reducing the release load at the time of release.
[0022]
(Configuration of engaging levers 30 and 40)
Next, the configuration of the engagement levers 30 and 40 will be described. 4 is a perspective view showing one engagement lever 30, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the other engagement lever 40. As shown in FIG. Since the pair of engaging levers 30 and 40 have substantially the same structure, the structure of the engaging lever 30 will be described, and the structure of the engaging lever 40 will be described by limiting only the portion different from the engaging lever 30.
[0023]
The engaging lever 30 includes a pair of lever plate portions 31 and 31 having the same shape that are parallel to each other, and a connecting plate portion 32 that is integrally formed to connect the end portions of the lever plate portions 31 and 31 to each other. Consists of. This engaging lever 30 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin having resilience.
[0024]
Each of the pair of lever plate portions 31 and 31 is formed with a shaft hole 33 into which the rotation support shaft 24 protruding from the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector body 21 is inserted. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the engaging lever 30 is formed by inserting the rotation support shaft 24 into the shaft hole 33 of the lever plate portion 31 disposed along the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector body 21. The first connector body 21 is attached so as to be rotatable. The connection plate portion 32 described above connects the free ends of the lever plate portions 31 and 31 pivotally supported on the rotation support shaft 28 in this way. And the free end side of these lever plate parts 31 and 31 is set so that it may protrude back from the rear-end part of the 1st connector main body 21. As shown in FIG.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 4, rear engagement portions 34, 34 project from the surfaces (outer surfaces) of the free end portions of the lever plate portions 31, 31 in the engagement lever 30. The rear engaging portions 34, 34 provided on the lever plate portion 31 are engaged with the back side of the mounted portion 10.
[0026]
Further, front engagement portions 35 and 35 are provided on the front side of the rear engagement portion 34 in each lever plate portion 31. The front engaging portion 35 is adapted to engage with the front surface of the attached portion 10 when the first connector 20 is assembled to the attached portion 10.
[0027]
Further, a temporary locking projection piece 36 is formed on one side portion of the front portion of each lever plate portion 31 so as to protrude to a corresponding position. As shown in FIG. 1, these temporary locking protrusions 36, 36 are temporarily locked by the temporary locking arm 25 when the engagement lever 30 is attached to the first connector body 21. It has become.
[0028]
The structure of the engagement lever 30 has been described above. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the engagement lever 40 has a first connector main body that intersects the engagement lever 30 from above the engagement lever 30. 21 is attached. In addition, the engagement lever 40 is set to be slightly longer than the case of the engagement lever 30 because of the arrangement of the engagement lever 40 above the engagement lever 30 as described above. In the lever plate 41, temporary locking projections 46, 46 are formed through a step. The configuration of other parts of the engaging lever 40 is substantially the same as that of the engaging lever 30 described above, and in the drawing, the last numeral is shown with the same reference numeral as that of the engaging lever 30, and the description thereof is omitted.
[0029]
(Configuration of the second connector 50)
Next, the structure of the 2nd connector 50 is demonstrated using FIG.7 and FIG.8. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the second connector 50 has a substantially rectangular tube shape, and a female terminal fitting (not shown) accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 of the first connector 20 by inserting the first connector 20 therein. A plurality of male terminal fittings 51 to be coupled is provided. Further, on both sides of the front end of the second connector 50, support portions 52, 52 having resilience supported by the escutcheon 60 are provided as shown in FIG. Furthermore, release ribs 53 that contact the release protrusions 25 </ b> B of the temporary locking arm 25 are formed on the upper and lower inner walls of the second connector 50.
[0030]
Next, in order to temporarily lock the first connector 20 to the attached portion 10 in the present embodiment, the following operation is performed.
[0031]
That is, in the attached portion 10 as shown in FIG. 1, the first connector 20 is inserted into the attached hole 11 from the back side. At this time, as indicated by the arrow lines S1 and S2 in FIG. 1, the front engaging portions of the engaging levers 30 and 40 are passed through the front engaging portion insertion notches 13 and 14, and the engaging levers 30 and 40 are laterally engaged. Move. At this time, the engaging levers 30 and 40 are temporarily locked with the temporary locking protrusions 36 and 46 by the lever temporary locking protrusions 25A and 25A of the temporary locking arm 25. 21 is held.
[0032]
FIG. 9 shows a state in which the first connector 20 is temporarily fixed to the mounted portion 10. In this state, the second connector 50 is fitted to the first connector 20. Then, the release protrusion 25B of the temporary locking arm 25 is pushed at the front end of the second connector 50, and the temporary locking arm 25 is bent toward the first connector main body 21 side, so that the lever temporary locking protrusion 25A. , 25A release the temporary locking with the temporary locking protrusions 36, 46. Therefore, when the second connector 50 is fitted to the first connector 20, the engaging levers 30 and 40 are expanded so that the free end sides are separated from each other around the rotation support shaft 33 as shown in FIG. 10. Open. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the first connector 20 is attached by the attached portion 10 being pressed by the front engaging portions 34 and 44 and the rear engaging portions 35 and 45 of the engaging levers 30 and 40. It is securely fixed to the portion 10. Accordingly, the second connector 50 is also fixed to the attached portion 10.
[0033]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it should not be understood that the statement and drawing which make a part of disclosure of said embodiment limit this invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
[0034]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the female terminal fitting is accommodated and arranged in the first connector 20 and the male terminal fitting is accommodated and arranged in the second connector 50. However, the opposite configuration may be adopted.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the lever temporary locking projections that temporarily locked the pair of engaging levers move together with the temporary locking arms to move the pair of engaging levers. Since the combination lever can be released at the same time, a pair of engagement levers can be temporarily locked by one temporary locking arm, and even if the other connector is fitted diagonally to one connector, the connector It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a so-called double feeling in which the arm bending load due to the temporary locking release appears as a response at the time of fitting.
[0036]
According to invention of Claim 2, since the surface which contact | abuts said other connector of the protrusion for cancellation | release is an inclined surface, there exists an effect that the cancellation | release load for canceling | releases temporary latching can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a temporary lever locking structure for a connector according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a first connector body according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a first connector main body according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one engagement lever according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the other engagement lever according to the embodiment.
6 is a perspective view showing a lever temporary locking structure of the connector according to the embodiment. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a front view showing a second connector according to the embodiment.
8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state where the first connector in the embodiment is temporarily fixed to the attached portion.
FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a fitting state of the first connector and the second connector in the embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state where the first connector and the second connector are completely fitted in the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a conventional connector support mechanism.
FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a diagonally fitted state between conventional connectors.
FIG. 14 is a graph showing a relationship between a coupling load and a connector insertion stroke in a conventional connector.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mounted part 11 Mounted hole 20 1st connector 21 1st connector main body 25 Temporary locking arm 25A Lever temporary locking protrusion 25B Release protrusions 30, 40 Engagement levers 31, 41 Lever plate parts 34, 44 Rear engagement part 35, 45 Front engagement part 50 Second connector

Claims (2)

One connector having a pair of engaging levers pivotally supported by the connector main body is temporarily fixed to the mounted portion in a state where the pair of engaging levers are temporarily fixed to the connector main body, and the other connector is A connector lever temporary locking structure that fits into the one connector while releasing the temporary locking state of the engaging lever,
The connector main body includes a flexible temporary locking arm in which a lever temporary locking protrusion for temporarily locking the pair of engaging levers is formed, and the temporary locking arm is connected to the other connector side. A connector temporary latching structure in which a release protrusion pressed against the connector is formed. The connector lever temporary locking structure according to claim 1,
A connector temporary latching structure for a connector, wherein a surface of the release protrusion that contacts the other connector is an inclined surface.

Images