JP5217994B2 - Lever type connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lever type connector.

  In Patent Document 1, both a male housing having a hood portion, a lever rotatably attached to the male housing, a female housing fitted to the hood portion, and a male terminal fitting are passed through the hood portion. A lever-type connector including a moving plate that can move in parallel with the fitting direction of the housing is disclosed.

  When fitting both housings in this lever-type connector, first, the female housing is inserted into the hood portion with the lever in the initial position, so that the cam pin of the female housing is combined with the cam pin of the moving plate. . Thereafter, the lever is rotated from the initial position to the fitting position in a state where both the cam pins are engaged with the cam groove of the lever. When the lever is rotated, a boosting action is exerted by the engagement between the cam pin and the cam groove, and the female housing is drawn into the hood portion so that both housings are fitted.

  In this lever type connector, when the two housings are fitted, the boosting action continues to be exerted until the lever reaches the fitting position from the initial position, but in order to exert the boosting action, It is necessary to set a large ratio of the rotation angle of the lever to the fitting stroke of both housings. That is, the greater the fitting stroke of both housings, the greater the pivot angle of the lever.

On the other hand, when the fitting of both housings is started, the tip of the male terminal fitting is protruded from the moving plate in order to position the male terminal fitting, but the male terminal fitting is protected from foreign matter interference. From this point of view, it is preferable to reduce the protruding dimension of the male terminal fitting. In order to reduce the protruding dimensions of the male terminal fittings, it is necessary to wait the moving plate as close to the tip of the hood as possible. However, the closer the moving plate is to the tip of the hood, Becomes larger. That is, in order to protect the male terminal fitting, the rotation angle of the lever becomes large.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-067338

  In the above-described lever-type connector, since the lever is rotated along the outer surfaces of the male housing and the female housing, there is no strict restriction on setting the rotation path of the lever. Therefore, it is easy to protect the male terminal fitting by reducing the protruding dimension of the male terminal fitting from the moving plate by setting the rotation angle of the lever large.

  However, in a lever-type connector in which the lever is housed in a box-shaped slider, there is a restriction on the space that can be secured to allow the lever to rotate, so the lever rotation angle can be set sufficiently large. There is a concern that the protruding dimension of the male terminal fitting from the moving plate must be large. In this case, either the protection of the male terminal fitting or the boosting action must be sacrificed.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and in a lever-type connector for fitting housings by utilizing the boosting action of the lever, the workability at the time of fitting is lowered. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to set the rotation angle of the lever to be small.

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a male housing having a hood portion opening forward, and a tab at a front end portion projecting into the hood portion are attached to the male housing. A plurality of male terminal fittings, a moving plate that is housed in the hood portion and is capable of moving in a direction parallel to the tabs with the tab penetrating forward, and a female terminal fitting is housed therein. In addition, a housing side cam follower is formed on the outer surface, and a female housing adapted to be fitted into the hood portion in a direction parallel to the tab, and an initial position and a fitting position on the male housing. is supporting the pivot between the lever cam groove is formed to be curved around a portion to be the support, with respect to the male housing, fitting of the male and female housings accompaniment The slider and the lever are slidable in the groove portion and the groove portion in a direction intersecting the fitting direction of the male and female housings. A plate-side cam follower formed on the moving plate is engaged with the cam groove, and when the lever is in the initial position, the moving plate is moved forward most. When the tab is positioned and the projecting dimension of the tab from the moving plate is minimum and the lever is in the mating position, the moving plate is located at the rearmost position and the projecting dimension of the tab from the moving plate is the maximum. When the male and female housings are fitted, the female housing is shallowly inserted into the hood portion. With the housing side cam follower entering the cam groove inlet, the lever is rotated from the initial position to the mating position by moving the female housing and the slider relative to each other. In the middle of the fitting of the male and female housings, a fitting resistance is generated due to the connection between the tab and the female housing, and this fitting resistance is fitted to the male and female housings. The cam groove is configured so that the moving plate is moved between the female plate and the female housing until the fitting resistance is generated until the fitting resistance is generated. Although it moves backward by being pushed by the housing, the boosting action due to the engagement with the cam follower accompanying the rotation of the lever is not exhibited, and the fitting Between the occurrence of the combined resistance and the completion of the fitting of both the male and female housings, the boosting action is exerted by the engagement with the cam follower accompanying the rotation of the lever. Has characteristics.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cam groove has a fitting cam surface for slidingly contacting the housing side cam follower in the process of fitting the male and female housings, The plate-side cam follower is characterized in that it is formed in a non-contact shape with the fitting cam surface in the fitting process of the male and female housings, and is moved backward by being pushed by the female housing. .

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the cam groove includes a plate-side detaching cam surface with which the plate-side cam follower is slidably contacted when the male and female housings are separated. A housing-side detaching cam surface with which the housing-side cam follower is slidably contacted when detaching both the male and female housings. In the initial stage of the detaching process of the male and female housings, the housing-side cam follower and the housing-side detaching cam surface are provided. Although the cam surface is in sliding contact, the plate-side cam follower and the plate-side detaching cam surface are not in contact with each other.

<Invention of Claim 1>
During the process of mating the male and female housings, the mating force applied by the operator to the slider and female housing is not affected by the lever boosting action until the mating resistance is generated after the mating starts. Only the fitting of both housings proceeds smoothly. During this time, the lever is not required to have a boosting function, and thus the pivot angle of the lever can be small.

  From the time when the mating resistance is generated until the mating is completed, a boosting action exerted by the lever is added to the mating operation force of the worker, and a mating force exceeding the mating resistance is applied to both housings. Therefore, the operator can smoothly fit both housings with a small fitting operation force.

  The lever-type connector of the present invention prevents the lever from exerting a boosting action until a fitting resistance is generated due to the connection between the tab and the female terminal fitting in the fitting process of the male and female housings. Therefore, the rotation angle of the lever in the meantime can be kept small. Therefore, the rotation angle from the initial position of the lever to the fitting position can be reduced compared to the case where the lever exerts a boosting action in the entire region of the fitting process.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since sliding resistance does not occur between the plate-side cam follower and the cam groove when the male and female housings are fitted, the fitting operation force is reduced accordingly.

<Invention of Claim 3>
When the detachment of both the male and female housings starts, the fitting resistance due to the contact between the tab and the female terminal fitting temporarily increases. In view of this point, in the present invention, the plate-side cam follower and the plate-side detaching cam surface are not in contact with each other at the initial stage of the detachment process of the male and female housings, so that no frictional resistance is generated between them. This avoids the occurrence of separation resistance due to contact between the plate-side cam follower and the plate-side separation cam surface, and reduces the operating force at the start of separation.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The lever-type connector of this embodiment includes a male housing 10, a male terminal fitting 20, a moving plate 30, a lever 40, a slider 50, and a female housing 60.

  The male housing 10 is integrally formed with a terminal housing portion 11 and a hood portion 12 that protrudes from the front end of the terminal housing portion 11 and opens forward (upward in FIGS. 1 to 6). A plurality of cavities (not shown) are formed in the terminal accommodating portion 11, and male terminal fittings 20 are inserted into the cavities from the rear. The male terminal fitting 20 has an elongated tab 21 at the front end, and the tab 21 extends forward from the front end surface of the terminal accommodating portion 11 (the rear end surface of the hood portion 12) (in the fitting / detaching direction of the housings 10 and 60). Projecting in a parallel direction) and surrounded by the hood portion 12.

  A pair of support shafts 13 are formed on the outer surface of the male housing 10. The pair of support shafts 13 are arranged at point-symmetrical positions with respect to a longitudinal axis of symmetry (not shown) perpendicular to the front end surface of the male housing 10. In addition, the hood portion 12 has a form in which the front of the support shaft 13 is cut out, and an escape groove (not shown) that opens at the front end edge of the hood portion 12 is formed.

  A moving plate 30 is accommodated in the hood portion 12 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction (direction parallel to the fitting / removing direction of the two housings 10 and 60). The moving plate 30 is a form in which a plate body 31 having a plate shape perpendicular to the fitting direction of the housings 10 and 60 and a peripheral wall 32 projecting forward from the periphery of the plate body 31 are integrally formed. A plurality of positioning holes 33 for individually penetrating the plurality of tabs 21 are formed in the plate body 31.

  A pair of plate-side cam followers 34 are formed on the peripheral wall 32. The pair of plate-side cam followers 34 are disposed at point-symmetrical positions with respect to a symmetrical axis (not shown) in the front-rear direction perpendicular to the front end surface of the male housing 10 (plate body 31), like the pair of support shafts 13. ing. The plate-side cam follower 34 is configured to leave a pair of arcuate cross-section projecting pieces 35 by penetrating and cutting the central portion of the cylinder in the front-rear direction. The gap between the projecting pieces 35 is a fitting space 36 for fitting the housing side cam follower 62 of the female housing 60. A fitting groove 37 that is continuous with the fitting space 36 is formed in the peripheral wall 32 so as to open to the front end edge of the peripheral wall 32. In addition, the tips of both protruding pieces 35 are connected by an end plate portion 38 having a shape corresponding to the fitting space 36. The plate side cam follower 34 is fitted in the relief groove of the hood portion 12.

  A pair of support shafts 13 formed on the male housing 10 are each rotatably attached with a single plate-like lever 40. The lever 40 can rotate between the initial position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the fitting position shown in FIG. 4 along the outer surface of the male housing 10. Similarly to the support shaft 13 and the plate-side cam follower 34, the pair of levers 40 also have a point-symmetric configuration and arrangement with respect to a longitudinal symmetry axis (not shown) perpendicular to the front end surfaces of the male housing 10 and the moving plate 30. Has been.

  The lever 40 is formed with a columnar connecting portion 41 that protrudes from the tip portion far from the support shaft 13 to the outer surface side. The lever 40 is formed with a cam groove 42 whose inner surface is recessed. The cam groove 42 has a curved shape such that the distance from the support shaft 13 gradually decreases from the front end side toward the back end side. The cam groove 42 has a pair of inner and outer inner surfaces along its length direction, and the outer inner surface far from the support shaft 13 of the pair of inner surfaces is a fitting cam surface 43. ing.

  On the other hand, with respect to the inner inner surface close to the support shaft 13, a region on the inner surface side of the lever 40 serves as a housing-side detaching cam surface 44, and the lever 40 outer surface side than the housing-side detaching cam surface 44 Is the plate-side detaching cam surface 45. A space (a space in which a housing-side cam follower 62 described later) is inserted between the fitting cam surface 43 and the housing-side detaching cam surface 44 in the cam groove 42 has an inlet 46 that opens on the outer peripheral surface of the lever 40. doing. On the other hand, the space corresponding to the plate-side detaching cam surface 45 in the cam groove 42 is not opened in the outer peripheral surface of the lever 40. Further, both the detaching cam surfaces 44 and 45 have the same shape in the region from the substantially central position to the back end in the length direction, whereas the plate-side detaching cam surfaces from the approximate center position in the length direction. The regions up to the tip of 45 have different shapes.

  The slider 50 has a rectangular tube shape penetrating in the front-rear direction, and is attached to the male housing 10 and the lever 40 so as to surround a part of each of the both. The slider 50 can move rearward relative to the male housing 10 in parallel with the fitting / removing direction of the two housings 10, 60. The slider 50 is formed with a pair of groove portions 51 orthogonal to the fitting / removing direction of the two housings 10, 60. The pair of groove portions 51 is pointed with respect to a symmetrical axis (not shown) in the front-rear direction perpendicular to the front end surface of the male housing 10 (plate body 31), like the support shaft 13, the plate side cam follower 34, and the lever 40 described above. Symmetrical form and arrangement. The groove portion 51 is engaged so that the connecting portion 41 of the lever 40 can slide relatively, and the lever 40 and the slider 50 are connected by the groove portion 51 and the connecting portion 41. As a result, the movement of the slider 50 in the front-rear direction is converted into the turning operation of the lever 40.

  The female housing 60 has a block shape as a whole, and a plurality of female terminal fittings 61 are accommodated therein so as to correspond to the male terminal fitting 20. In the female terminal fitting 61, a known type of elastic contact piece (not shown) that elastically contacts the tab 21 is accommodated. A pair of housing-side cam followers 62 are formed on the outer surface of the female housing 60 so as to protrude. Similarly to the pair of plate-side cam followers 34, the pair of housing-side cam followers 62 is configured and arranged in a point-symmetric manner with respect to a longitudinal axis (not shown) perpendicular to the front end surfaces of the male housing 10 and the moving plate 30. ing. The housing-side cam follower 62 has a substantially rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction as a whole, and both front and rear end surfaces are arc-shaped.

  Next, the operation | work which fits both the housings 10 and 60 is demonstrated. Prior to the fitting of the two housings 10 and 60, as shown in FIG. 1, the slider 50 is held in the most rearward position with respect to the male housing 10, and at this time, the lever 40 is in the initial position. In a state where the lever 40 is in the initial position, the inlet 46 of the fitting cam surface 43 opens forward. Further, the moving plate 30 is positioned at the foremost end in the moving range, and the projecting dimension of the tab 21 from the moving plate 30 at this time becomes the minimum.

  When the two housings 10 and 60 are fitted from this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the female housing 60 is shallowly fitted into the hood portion 12 so that the housing side cam follower 62 is moved along the fitting groove 37. While being moved, the plate side cam follower 34 is fitted into the fitting space 36 and at the same time, the plate side cam follower 34 is entered into the inlet 46 of the cam groove 42. At this time, the front end surface of the female housing 60 comes into contact with the front end surface of the plate body 31 of the moving plate 30. Further, the tab 21 enters the female housing 60 but is not in contact with the female terminal fitting 61.

  Thereafter, the operator moves the slider 50 forward relative to the male housing 10 by grasping the slider 50 and the female housing 60 and bringing them closer to each other. With the relative movement of the slider 50, the lever 40 starts to rotate, and the fitting proceeds about half as shown in FIG. In the first half of the fitting process, the tab 21 and the female terminal fitting 61 are not in contact with each other, or a state in which almost no fitting resistance is generated even if they are in contact with each other is maintained. On the other hand, the cam followers 34, 62 and the cam surfaces 43, 44, 45 are not in contact with each other, or no boosting action is exhibited even if they come into contact. Therefore, the fitting between the housings 10 and 60 is smoothly performed only by the fitting operation force applied to the female housing 60 and the slider 50 by the operator. In the first half of the fitting process, the inclination angle of the fitting cam surface 43 and the two detaching cam surfaces 44, 45 with respect to the fitting direction of the two housings 10, 60 is a relatively small angle of about 45 ° at the maximum. Therefore, even if the fitting stroke of both the housings 10 and 60 proceeds to almost half, the turning angle of the lever 40 is about 1/3 of the maximum turning angle from the initial position of the lever 40 to the fitting position.

  When the operator further brings the slider 50 and the female housing 60 closer together from the time when the first half of the fitting process is completed, the rotation of the lever 40 and the fitting of the two housings 10 and 60 are further advanced, 60 reaches the regular fitting state shown in FIG. In a state where both housings 10 and 60 are properly fitted, the lever 40 reaches the fitting position, and the moving plate 30 is located at the rearmost position so as to contact the front end surface of the terminal accommodating portion 11 (the rear end surface of the hood portion 12). The protrusion dimension of the tab 21 from the moving plate 30 is the largest.

  In the latter half of the fitting process, since the tab 21 contacts the elastic contact piece with the female terminal fitting 61, the frictional resistance caused by the elastic restoring force of the elastic contact piece becomes the fitting resistance. , 60 until the fitting is completed. On the other hand, the housing side cam follower 62 is in sliding contact with the fitting cam surface 43 in the latter half of the fitting process, and a boosting action is exhibited by this sliding contact. As a result, a boosting action is added to the operation force in the approaching direction applied to the female housing 60 and the slider 50 by the operator, so a large fitting exceeding the fitting resistance caused by the contact between the tab 21 and the female terminal fitting 61 is obtained. The resultant force is applied to both the housings 10 and 60, and the operator can smoothly advance the fitting of both the housings 10 and 60 with a small fitting operation force.

  In this latter half of the fitting process, a boosting action is exerted, so that the inclination angle of the fitting cam surface 43 with respect to the fitting direction of the two housings 10, 60 is at least greater than 45 °, and at the maximum at a right angle. Close angle. Therefore, the fitting stroke of both the housings 10 and 60 is substantially the same as the fitting process in the first half, whereas the turning angle of the lever 40 is the maximum turning angle from the initial position of the lever 40 to the fitting position. About 2/3, that is, approximately twice the rotation angle of the lever 40 in the first half of the fitting process.

  The lever-type connector of the present embodiment has a boosting action on the lever 40 until a fitting resistance is generated due to the connection between the tab 21 and the female terminal fitting 61 in the fitting process of both housings 10 and 60. Therefore, the rotation angle of the lever 40 in the meantime can be kept small. Therefore, the rotation angle from the initial position of the lever 40 to the fitting position can be reduced compared to the case where the lever 40 exerts a boosting action in the entire region of the fitting process.

  Further, in the entire fitting process from the start of fitting of the housings 10 and 60 to the completion of fitting, the plate-side cam follower 34 does not contact the fitting cam surface 43, and the moving plate 30 By being pushed by the female housing 60, the inside of the hood portion 12 moves integrally with the female housing 60 to the rear (back). As described above, when the housings 10 and 60 are fitted, no sliding resistance is generated between the plate-side cam follower 34 and the cam groove 42, so that the fitting operation force is reduced accordingly.

  Next, the work of detaching both housings 10 and 60 will be described. When the two housings 10 and 60 are detached, the slider 50 and the female housing 60 are separated. Then, the lever 40 starts to rotate from the fitting position to the initial position side. In the initial stage of the detachment process of both the housings 10 and 60 (the detachment process leading to FIGS. 4 to 5), the plate-side cam follower 34 is not in contact with the plate-side detachment cam surface 45. Does not move relative to. On the other hand, since the housing-side cam follower 62 is in sliding contact with the housing-side detaching cam surface 44, the female housing 60 is moved relative to the male housing 10 in the detaching direction by the boosting action caused by the sliding contact.

  Now, when the detachment of both the housings 10 and 60 starts, the fitting resistance due to the contact between the tab 21 and the elastic contact piece of the female terminal fitting 61 temporarily increases. In view of this point, in the present embodiment, the plate side cam follower 34 and the plate side detachment cam surface 45 are brought into non-contact at the initial stage of the detachment process of the housings 10 and 60, and the plate side cam follower 34 and the plate side detachment Friction resistance is prevented from occurring between the cam surface 45 and the cam surface 45. This avoids the occurrence of separation resistance due to contact between the plate-side cam follower 34 and the plate-side separation cam surface 45, and realizes a reduction in operating force at the start of separation.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the sliding contact between the housing-side cam follower 62 and the housing-side detaching cam surface 44 continues, so that the female housing 60 moves in the detaching direction with respect to the male housing 10 by a boosting action. move on. On the other hand, since the sliding contact between the plate-side cam follower 34 and the plate-side detaching cam surface 45 is also performed, the moving plate 30 also moves relatively forward (in the same direction as the female housing 60) so as to follow the male housing 10.

  When the lever 40 reaches the initial position, the housing-side cam follower 62 reaches the inlet 46 of the cam groove 42 as shown in FIG. Further, the moving plate 30 catches up and contacts the female housing 60. Thereafter, the female housing 60 may be removed from the male housing 10 without sliding the slider 50 with respect to the male housing 10.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  (1) In the above embodiment, the groove portion is formed on the slider and the connecting portion is formed on the lever. On the contrary, the groove portion may be formed on the lever and the connecting portion may be formed on the slider.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the slider has a rectangular tube shape surrounding the male housing and the lever, but the slider may have a shape other than the rectangular tube shape.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the plate-side cam follower is configured not to come into contact with the mating cam surface in the mating process of the male and female housings. However, the plate-side cam follower is configured to be the mating cam surface in the mating process of the male and female housings. It is good also as a form which contacts.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the plate-side cam follower and the plate-side detaching cam surface are not in contact with each other at the initial stage of the detachment process of the male and female housings. And the plate-side detaching cam surface may be in contact with each other.

Sectional drawing showing the state in which the lever is in an initial position in Embodiment 1 and both the male and female housings are detached. Sectional view showing a state where the lever is in the initial position and the female housing is shallowly fitted into the hood Sectional view showing the state during fitting of both housings Sectional view showing the state where both housings are mated Sectional view showing the state where both housings have started to be detached Sectional view showing the state in the middle of separation of both housings Front view of moving plate Moving plate side view Lever side view Partially cutaway side view showing the cam follower engaged with the cam groove of the lever in the initial position AA line sectional view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Male housing 12 ... Hood part 20 ... Male terminal metal fitting 21 ... Tab 30 ... Moving plate 34 ... Plate side cam follower 40 ... Lever 41 ... Connection part 42 ... Cam groove 43 ... Cam surface for fitting 44 ... Cam surface for housing side separation 45 ... Plate-side detaching cam surface 50 ... Slider 51 ... Groove 60 ... Female housing 61 ... Female terminal fitting 62 ... Housing-side cam follower

Claims (3)

A male housing having a hood portion opening forward;
A plurality of male terminal fittings attached to the male housing and having front end tabs projecting into the hood;
A moving plate that is housed in the hood portion and is capable of moving in a direction parallel to the tabs with the tabs penetrating forward;
A female housing in which a female terminal fitting is housed and a housing-side cam follower is formed on the outer surface and is fitted into the hood portion in a direction parallel to the tabs;
A lever that is supported by the male housing so as to be rotatable between an initial position and a fitting position, and a cam groove is formed around the supported portion ;
A slider attached to the male housing so as to be capable of relative movement in a direction parallel to the fitting direction of the male and female housings.
The slider and the lever are connected via a groove portion in a direction intersecting with a fitting direction of the male and female housings and a connection portion slidably engaged with the groove portion,
A plate-side cam follower formed on the moving plate is engaged with the cam groove, and when the lever is in the initial position, the moving plate is positioned at the foremost position so that the protruding dimension of the tab from the moving plate is When the lever is in the mating position, the moving plate is located at the rearmost position so that the protruding dimension of the tab from the moving plate is maximized,
When the male and female housings are fitted together, the female housing and the slider are connected to each other in a state where the female housing is shallowly fitted into the hood portion and the housing side cam follower is inserted into the inlet of the cam groove. The lever is rotated from the initial position to the fitting position by relative movement so as to approach,
During the fitting of the male and female housings, a fitting resistance is generated due to the connection between the tab and the female housing, and this fitting resistance continues until the male and female housings are fitted. Lever-type connector
The cam groove is
The moving plate is moved backward by being pushed by the female housing after the fitting of the male and female housings is started until the fitting resistance is generated, but the lever moves with the lever. A boosting action due to the engagement with the cam follower is not exhibited, and until the fitting between the male and female housings is completed after the fitting resistance is generated, the cam follower is rotated with the cam follower. A lever type connector characterized in that a boosting action by engagement is exhibited. The cam groove has a fitting cam surface for slidingly contacting the housing side cam follower in the process of fitting the male and female housings,
The plate-side cam follower is formed in a non-contact shape with the fitting cam surface in the fitting process of the male and female housings, and is moved backward by being pushed by the female housing. The lever type connector according to claim 1. The cam groove includes a plate-side detaching cam surface on which the plate-side cam follower is in sliding contact with the male and female housings, and a housing-side detaching cam on which the housing-side cam follower is in sliding contact with the male and female housings. And has a surface,
In the initial stage of the detachment process of both the male and female housings, the housing side cam follower and the housing side detaching cam surface are in sliding contact, but the plate side cam follower and the plate side detaching cam surface are not in contact with each other. The lever type connector according to claim 1 or 2.

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