KR102675514B1 - Connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a connector assembly. The connector assembly of the present invention includes a first connector (10) and a second connector (30). A locking lever 14 is elastically deformable in the first housing 12 of the first connector 10, and a hook is hung on the locking lever 14 on the locking protrusion 34 of the second connector 30. A jaw 20 is formed. At the tip of the push button 22 formed on the locking lever 14, there is a first interlocking inclined surface 23 inclined toward the lever body 16 of the locking lever 14, and auxiliary to the first interlocking inclined surface 23. The fastening jaw 24 is connected to the auxiliary fastening groove 36 formed in the guide slope 35 of the second housing 32.

Description

Connector assembly {Connector assembly}

The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and more specifically, to a connector assembly in which arbitrary release between a first connector and a second connector is prevented and release by an operator is quickly achieved.

A connector is made by having a housing made of an insulating material form the exterior and framework, and a terminal made of a conductive material is installed inside the housing. Such connectors perform electrical connections in various forms. Generally, a first connector and a second connector are coupled together to perform electrical connections between wires.

Here, in order to maintain the electrical connection between the first connector and the second connector, an elastically deformable locking lever is provided, for example, on the first connector, and a locking lever on which the locking lever is hung is placed on the second connector on the other side. . In this configuration, the coupling state between the first connector and the second connector is maintained by the coupling between the locking lever and the locking protrusion, and when an unexpected external force acts, the locking lever is elastically deformed and separated from the locking protrusion. There is a problem that the coupling state between the first connector and the second connector is separated.

And, in the conventional connector assembly, in order to separate the coupling between the first connector and the second connector, one side of the locking lever is pressed to separate the coupling with the locking jaw, and then the first connector and the second connector are moved in a direction away from each other. There was an inconvenience in performing the two-step operation of separating the first connector and the second connector.

Japanese patent registration JP4202125

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the conventional problems described above, and to prevent disconnection of the connector assembly due to unexpected external force.

Another object of the present invention is to complete separation of the mating state between the first connector and the second connector constituting the connector assembly in one operation.

According to the characteristics of the present invention for achieving the above-described object, the present invention includes a first connector in which a locking lever that is elastically deformable and has a hook is provided on the outer surface of the first housing, and a tip of the first housing. A second connector including a second housing inserted into the second housing and a locking jaw on which the locking lever of the locking lever hangs on the inner surface of the tip of the second housing, and an auxiliary fastening jaw of the push button provided on the locking lever. This is engaged and fastened to an auxiliary fastening groove formed on the guide slope of the outer surface of the tip of the second housing.

A first interlocking inclined surface is formed from the tip of the push button toward the lever body of the locking lever, and the portions of the second housing where the guiding slope is formed are positioned in contact with each other.

The auxiliary fastening jaw is formed on the first interlocking slope.

An interlocking curved surface guided by the guide slope of the second housing is formed at the tip of the first interlocking slope of the push button.

The locking lever is connected to the front end of the first housing through a front end connection portion, and is connected to a rear end of the first housing through a rear connection leg to form an overall bridge shape.

First guide ribs are formed on both outer surfaces of the first housing and extend in the direction of coupling and separation of the first connector and the second connector, and a second inner space of the second housing guides the movement of the first guide ribs. The second guide rib is formed to extend in the direction of coupling and separation of the first connector and the second connector.

The second guide rib is composed of a flat part in the area corresponding to the inside of the second internal space and an inclined part on the entrance side of the second internal space. As the first guide rib is guided to the inclined part, the first connector is separated from the second connector. Guidance on what to do

The connector assembly according to the present invention can achieve the following effects.

First, in the present invention, when the first connector and the second connector are fully coupled, the tip of the second housing of the second connector is coupled to the push button on the locking lever of the first connector, and an unexpected external force is applied to the push button. Even if this action occurs, the coupling state of the first connector and the second connector is not released due to the interlocking between the anti-locking slope of the first connector and the guide slope of the second connector, and only the relative position between the first connector and the second connector is changed. This changes. Therefore, there is an effect of preventing disconnection between the first connector and the second connector due to unexpected external force.

In addition, in the present invention, if the push button is continuously pressed to achieve interlocking between the first interlocking slope of the first connector and the guide slope of the second connector, the distance between the first connector and the second connector moves away, and at the same time, the locking lever The locking lever may be elastically deformed so that the hook of the second housing is separated from the lock of the second housing. Therefore, there is an effect of being able to cancel the connection between the first connector and the second connector with a single operation.

1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a preferred embodiment of the connector assembly according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the embodiment shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a first connector constituting an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is an operating state diagram showing a state in which the first connector and the second connector are coupled in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is an operating state showing a state in which the first connector and the second connector are relatively distant compared to the coupled state in an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail through illustrative drawings. When adding reference numerals to components in each drawing, it should be noted that identical components are given the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. Additionally, in describing embodiments of the present invention, if detailed descriptions of related known configurations or functions are judged to impede understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed descriptions will be omitted.

Additionally, when describing the components of embodiments of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, order, or order of the component is not limited by the term. When a component is described as being “connected,” “coupled,” or “connected” to another component, that component may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but there is no need for another component between each component. It should be understood that may be “connected,” “combined,” or “connected.”

As shown in the drawings, the embodiment of the present invention consists of a first connector 10 and a second connector 30. The first connector 10 and the second connector 30 do not necessarily have a wire connected to the terminal and the wire extends rearward. In the attached drawing, the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 are shown in a form in which the wire does not extend rearward. However, the connectors 10 and 30 to which the present invention is applied are not limited to the illustrated example.

The first housing 12 forms the exterior and framework of the first connector 10. The first housing 12 is made of an insulating material. Inside the first housing 12, there is a first internal space (not shown), which is open to the tip of the first housing 12. The first terminal is installed in the first housing 12 so that the tip of the first terminal (not shown) is located in the first internal space, but this part is not shown in the drawings of this specification because it is not the point.

A locking lever 14 for fastening with the second connector 30 is formed on one outer surface of the first housing 12, extending in the longitudinal direction of the first housing 12. The locking lever 14 is elastically deformable. In this embodiment, the locking lever 14 is in the form of a bridge whose front and rear ends are connected to the first housing 12.

The lever body 16 forms the skeleton of the locking lever 14. The lever body 16 has a strip-shaped plate shape. The tip of the lever body 16 has a tip connection portion 17 and is connected to one side of the tip of the first housing 12. There is a rear end connecting leg 18 at the rear end of the lever body 16, which is connected to one rear end side of the first housing 12. In this way, the lever body 16 is configured in the form of a bridge with its front and rear ends connected to the first housing 12 by the front end connection portion 17 and the rear end connection leg 18, respectively.

There is a hook 20 on the middle upper surface of the lever body 16. The hook 20 is hung on the hook 34 of the second connector 30 to maintain the fastened state of the first connector 10 and the second connector 30.

The lever body 16 has a push button 22 between the hanger 20 and the rear connecting leg 18. The push button 22 has a square shape when viewed in plan view. There is a first interlocking inclined surface 23 toward the bottom from the tip of the push button 22. The first interlocking inclined surface 23 is formed to be inclined toward the upper surface of the lever body 16 from the tip of the push button 22, as shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, a space into which the tip of the second housing 32 can be inserted is formed between the push button 22 and the lever body 16.

An auxiliary fastening jaw 24 protrudes from the first interlocking inclined surface 23. The auxiliary fastening jaw 24 hangs on the auxiliary fastening groove 36 of the second housing 32, which will be described below, and maintains the fastening state. The state in which the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 is fastened to the auxiliary fastening groove 36 can be released by a force exceeding a certain level. That is, when the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 are moved in a direction away from each other, the fastened state is released when a force exceeding a certain level is applied.

An interlocking curved surface 25 is formed at the tip of the first interlocking inclined surface 23, that is, at the tip of the push button 22. The interlocking curved surface 25 is guided along the guide slope 35 of the second housing 30 when the push button 22 is pressed.

There is a protection fence 22 on the outer surface of the first housing 12 corresponding to both ends in the width direction of the locking lever 14. The protective fence 22 extends in the front and rear directions of the first housing 12 side by side at both ends at a constant distance from each other. The height of the protective fence 22 is slightly lower than the upper surface of the lever body 16.

There are first guide ribs 28 on both sides of the first housing 12. A total of four first guide ribs 28 are formed, two on each side of the first housing 12. The first guide rib 28 is linked with the second guide rib 38, which will be described below, and guides the coupling and separation between the first connector 10 and the second connector 30.

The second housing 32 forms the exterior and framework of the second connector 30. The second housing 32 is also made of an insulating material. A second internal space 33 is formed inside the second housing 32 to be open at the tip. A portion of the first housing 12 is inserted into the second internal space 33. The tip of the second terminal (not shown) is located in the second internal space 33. The configuration of the second terminal and the installation structure related thereto are not important components of the present invention, so description is omitted.

A locking protrusion 34 is formed on the inner surface of the tip of the second housing 32. The locking protrusion 34 is well shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The hook 20 on the locking lever 14 of the first connector 10 is hung on the lock 34.

A guide slope 35 is formed in one area of the tip of the second housing 32. The guide slope 35 is linked with the first interlocking slope 23 formed on the push button 22 of the first connector 10. The guide slope (35) has an auxiliary fastening groove (36). The auxiliary fastening groove 36 is a part where the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 of the first connector 10 is hung. The auxiliary fastening groove 36 is shaped like a groove into which the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 hangs.

There is a second guide rib 38 on the inner surface of the second internal space 33 of the second housing 32. The second guide rib 38 guides the movement of the first guide rib 28. The second guide ribs 38 are formed at positions corresponding to the first guide ribs 28. The part of the second guide rib 38 relatively inside the second internal space 33 is a flat part 40, and the part on the entrance side of the second internal space 33 is an inclined part 42. am. The flat portion 40 is parallel to the direction in which the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 are coupled and separated, and the inclined portion 42 has a predetermined inclination with respect to the flat portion 40. have In the process of disconnecting and separating the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 by the inclined portion 42, the first connector 10 is easily separated from the second internal space 33 and falls out. It comes out.

Hereinafter, the use of the connector assembly according to the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described in detail.

In the present invention, the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 are coupled together, as shown in FIG. 2, with the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 facing each other. . As the first connector 10 enters the second internal space 33 of the second connector 30, the hook 20 of the locking lever 14 is positioned inside the tip of the second housing 32. Guided. In this case, the locking lever 14 is pressed and the lever body 16 is elastically deformed closer to the outer surface of the first housing 12.

When the hanging ledge 20 exceeds the latching ledge 34 and is hung inside the latching ledge 34, the locking lever 14 is elastically deformed and restored to its original state. And by moving the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 in the direction in which the second connector 30 is coupled, the tip of the second housing 32, where the guide slope 35 is formed, is pressed. Enter the bottom of button (22).

Accordingly, the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 of the push button 22 is seated in the auxiliary fastening groove 36 formed in the guide slope 35 of the second housing 32 and is hung. Since the coupling of the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 and the auxiliary fastening groove 36 is released only when a certain force or more is applied, the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 cannot be separated by an unexpected external force of less than a certain amount acting from the outside. ) is not canceled. Figure 4 shows a state in which the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 is coupled to the auxiliary fastening groove 36.

Meanwhile, even if the coupling between the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 and the auxiliary fastening groove 36 is terminated, the hook 20 of the first housing 12 is hung on the lock 34 of the second housing 32. The fastening state between the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 is not canceled until the current state is canceled.

When the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 are combined as shown in FIG. 4, the user must press the push button 22 to separate the first connector 10 and the second connector 30. ) Apply force (F) to . When the push button 22 is pressed, the locking lever 14 is elastically deformed and tries to move in the direction of the outer surface of the first housing 12, and the push button is pushed by the guide inclination 35 of the second housing 32. As the first interlocking inclined surface 23 and the interlocking curved surface 25 of (22) are guided, the first connector 10 moves in a direction away from the second connector 30.

Due to this relative movement between the first connector 10 and the second connector 30, the first connector 10 and the second connector 30 move in opposite directions as shown in FIG. The tip of the second housing 32 deviates from the push button 22. That is, the auxiliary fastening jaw 24 is separated from the auxiliary fastening groove 36.

Meanwhile, in this process, if the operator continues to apply force to the push button 22, the lever body 16 is further elastically deformed, and the hook 20 of the first housing 12 is attached to the second housing 32. ) is not locked in the locking protrusion 34, and the locking lever 14 passes through the position of the locking protrusion 34 of the second housing 32 and enters the second internal space 33. It can fall outside.

In particular, at this point, the first guide ribs 28 on both outer surfaces of the first housing 12 are connected to the second guide ribs on both inner surfaces of the second internal space 33 of the second housing 32 ( As it is guided along the inclined portion 42 of 38), the first housing 12 moves out of the second internal space 33 more smoothly.

In the above, even though all the components constituting the embodiment of the present invention have been described as being combined or operated in combination, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this embodiment. That is, as long as it is within the scope of the purpose of the present invention, all of the components may be operated by selectively combining one or more of them. In addition, terms such as “include,” “comprise,” or “have” described above mean that the corresponding component may be present, unless specifically stated to the contrary, and therefore do not exclude other components. Rather, it should be interpreted as being able to include other components. All terms, including technical or scientific terms, unless otherwise defined, have the same meaning as generally understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. Commonly used terms, such as terms defined in a dictionary, should be interpreted as consistent with the contextual meaning of the related technology and, unless explicitly defined in the present invention, should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense.

The above description is merely an illustrative explanation of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications and variations will be possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention but are for illustrative purposes, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these examples. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted in accordance with the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be construed as being included in the scope of rights of the present invention.

10: first connector 12: first housing
14: Locking lever 16: Lever body
17: front end connection 18: rear end connection leg
20: Hook 22: Push button
23: first interlocking slope 24: auxiliary fastening jaw
25: Interlocking curved surface 26: Protection fence
28: first guide rib 30: second connector
32: second housing 33: second internal space
34: Stopper 35: Guide slope
36: Auxiliary fastening groove 38: Second guide rib
40: flat part 42: inclined part

Claims (7)

a first connector in which a locking lever that is elastically deformable and has a hook is provided on the outer surface of the first housing;
A second connector provided with a second housing into which the tip of the first housing is inserted, and a locking tab on which the locking lever of the locking lever is hung on the inner surface of the tip of the second housing;
A connector assembly in which the auxiliary fastening jaw of the push button provided on the locking lever is engaged and fastened to the auxiliary fastening groove formed in the guide slope of the outer surface of the tip of the second housing.
The connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein a first interlocking inclined surface is formed from the tip of the push button toward the lever body of the locking lever, and the portions of the second housing where the guide slope is formed are positioned in contact with each other.
The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein the auxiliary fastening protrusion is formed on the first interlocking inclined surface.
The connector assembly of claim 3, wherein an interlocking curved surface guided by a guide slope of the second housing is formed at a tip of the first interlocking slope of the push button.
The connector assembly of claim 4, wherein the locking lever is connected through a front end of the first housing through a front end connection portion and a rear end of the first housing through a rear connection leg, thereby forming an overall bridge shape.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein first guide ribs are formed on both outer surfaces of the first housing and extend in a direction of coupling and separation of the first connector and the second connector, and the second guide ribs of the second housing are formed on both outer surfaces of the first housing. A connector assembly in which a second guide rib that guides the movement of the first guide rib is formed in the inner space and extends in the direction of coupling and separation of the first connector and the second connector.
The method of claim 6, wherein the second guide rib is composed of a flat part in an area corresponding to the inside of the second internal space and an inclined part on the entrance side of the second internal space, and the first guide rib is guided to the inclined part to connect the first connector. A connector assembly that guides separation from the second connector.

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