CN1237665C - Cable connector using sliding actuating engaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

A mating connector for connecting a connector, locking means for securing the connector to the mating connector, and a release mechanism for the locking means are provided. The locking means includes a pair of hook members extending along respective opposite side surfaces of a housing, fulcrum portions rotatably supporting respective hook members with respect to the housing, engagement pieces provided on the hook members, engagement recesses provided to the mating connector side for engagement with the engagement pieces, and spring pieces provided on the hook members for urging the engagement pieces in a direction toward the engagement recesses. The release mechanism is arranged so that by movement of a slide cover slidable in an axial direction of a cable with respect to the housing, the hook members are rotated such that the engagement pieces are disengaged from the engagement recesses.

Description

Cable connectors with slide-actuated engagement

Background technique

The present invention relates generally to electrical cable connectors, and more particularly to a high density electrical cable terminated to a connector having slidingly actuated engagement means engaged therein.

Laid-open Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-208866 discloses a technique for increasing the mounting density of a plurality of cable connectors. This technology reduces the thickness of a locking device (removal protection mechanism) for a connector guide of a mating connector mounted on a motherboard, thereby reducing the size of the connector. This makes it possible to increase the mounting density of multiple cable connectors. This patent shows the use of pins which extend the length of the connector and are manipulable by the user. The described pins are difficult to scale to high density applications.

A number of cable connectors can be plugged into the computer's motherboard. Recently, as computer processing speeds have increased, computer motherboards have generally decreased in size. In order to make these boards smaller, it is necessary to increase the packing density of the cable connectors on the board. During high-density mounting of cable connectors to motherboards, the locking means used to prevent disengagement of cable connectors from their mating motherboard connectors generally acquire only one location on the housing portion of the cable connectors. Providing the locking means at a single location, rather than distributing the locking function among multiple locations on the connector, minimizes the overall size of the connector. This content is shown in the above-mentioned Japanese patent application.

However, this leads to a problem. When the locking device is provided in one position, the locking device is relatively weak against twisting or pulling. These types of forces can be generated by activities within the computer like maintenance, repair and part displacement, and can be applied to the locking mechanism when cables are bent or twisted. Therefore, in order to improve the reliability of the interconnection, it is necessary to provide locking means at two separate locations on the connector housing.

Contents of the invention

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical cable connector having an easily engaged locking means located at two different positions for increased reliability and which, by minimizing the thickness of the locking means, will enable Multiple cable connectors enable high-density mounting. A cable connector according to the present invention includes: a connector at the end of the cable to engage a mating connector; locking means for securing the connector to the mating connector; and a release mechanism for the locking means.

The locking device includes: a pair of hook members respectively extending along a plurality of opposite side surfaces of the connector housing; a plurality of fulcrum portions rotatably supporting the plurality of hook members on the housing; and A plurality of mating engagement notches formed in a mating connector. The hook member includes: an engaging (hook) end engaging the plurality of butting notches; and a plurality of spring pieces for urging the plurality of engaging ends in a direction toward the plurality of engaging notches. The release mechanism includes a shroud axially slidable relative to and over the connector housing such that when the shroud moves away from the mating connector, the plurality of hook members rotate in this direction (counterclockwise), thereby The plurality of engaging pieces are disengaged from their plurality of engaging notches.

According to the present invention, the pair of hook members extend along a plurality of opposite side surfaces of the housing, and are rotatably connected to the connector housing. Since the plurality of hook members extend along the sides of the housing, the width of the locking device is minimized, ie the entire width of the connector is also minimized. With this arrangement, the locking device can be located at two different, separate locations and increases the reliability of the locking device while minimizing the width of the connector for high density mounting of multiple connectors.

The release mechanism requires the inclusion of multiple guide ramps in the sliding cover, and a plurality of first contact blades that act as suspensions when the cover is slid rearwardly relative to the connector housing. The plurality of first, bottom ends of the hook members are for contacting the plurality of sliding cage guide ramps that rotate the plurality of hook members. With this arrangement, the release mechanism can be actuated by simply sliding the cover.

It is also necessary to shape the release mechanism to be actuated when the sliding cover is slid in a direction away from the mating connector. With this arrangement, by simply pushing the slide towards the operator, the release mechanism is actuated to release the locking means, and by pushing the cover further, the connector can be removed from the mating connector. Therefore, simply by pushing the cover toward the operator, a release operation for the connector can be achieved.

The free end of the contact piece of the hook member and the free end of the spring piece therein need to be separated from each other by a certain distance in the cover, and when the free end of the spring piece is in contact with the inclined surface of the guide, the free end of the spring piece is also arranged, The leaf spring is thus elastically deformed or deflected. The leaf spring is then elastically deformed when the release mechanism is actuated, and is in its undeflected position when the release mechanism is not actuated. Therefore, the movement of the slide cover affects the rotation of the plurality of plate-shaped hook members.

The locking means is preferably actuated when the cover is slid towards the mating connector. With this arrangement, if the connector is connected to the mating connector simply by dominating the sliding hood and moving the sliding hood towards the mating connector, with a locking device maintained in the actuated state, it is possible to realize the connection between the connector and the mating connector. the connection between.

A plurality of side surfaces of the housing need to be formed as planar surfaces extending parallel to each other, and each hook member is rotatably connected to the connector in such a manner that the surface of each hook member contacts the corresponding side surface of the connector housing. The device housing, thereby substantially eliminating the gap between the hook member and the side surface of the housing. In this way, the width of the connector becomes minimum.

For simplification and minimization of the width, it is also required that the fulcrum portion for the hook member takes the form of a protrusion protruding from the side surface of the housing, and inserted into the center portion of the plate-shaped hook member located in the longitudinal direction. Mating holes.

It is also desirable for the mating connector to have a plurality of connector guides for guiding the plurality of connectors to be arranged laterally and vertically in a grid pattern. The plurality of connector guides can facilitate the mating operation of the plurality of connectors, and can perform the function of protecting the mated connectors.

There is also a need for the connector guide to have a plurality of side surface support plates that support a plurality of side surfaces of the connector housing when the connector is mated with a mating connector, and on a plurality of sides A plurality of inner wall portions of the surface support plate provide a plurality of engaging notches. With this arrangement, the plurality of side surface support plates support the plurality of side surfaces of the connector housing in order to stabilize the mated connector interface. Further, by providing the plurality of engaging notches at the plurality of inner wall portions of the plurality of side surface support plates, spaces for the plurality of engaging notches can be provided in order to minimize the distance between the plurality of side surface support plates.

The mating connector may have a plurality of pin contacts that pass through the motherboard of the electronic device and protrude from said plurality of pin contacts within each connector guide. A plurality of socket contacts connected to a plurality of pin contacts may also be provided within the housing of the connector. With this arrangement, the mating connector can be integrated with the motherboard.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood by reason of the following detailed description.

Description of drawings

During the course of this detailed description, reference will often be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 is a side view of a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a plan view of a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is an exploded view of a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 (a) is a side view of the housing of the cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 (b) is a plan view of a housing of a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4(c) is an end view of a housing of a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the cable connector of Figure 4(b), showing the locking device in a locked condition;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cable connector of Figure 5 showing the locking means during disengagement;

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the cable connector of Figure 5 showing the fully disengaged locking device; and

8 is an enlarged side view of a plate-shaped hook member of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8 . In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a cable connector connected to the main board M of a computer.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , the cable connector shown in the figures includes: a connector 10 at the end of the cable 1 and used to connect the cable 1 to a motherboard, a circuit board M of a computer or other electronic devices. The cable 1 and its connector 10 cooperate with a mating connection 20, and means for locking the connector 10 to the mating connector in the engaged state are included as part of the connector 10 and as a release for disengaging the locking means. mechanism.

The connector 10 comprises: a housing 11, wherein the outer contours are substantially side-by-side rectangles (although other configurations may be used), and the housing 11 has an open front surface as a connecting portion (see FIGS. 3 and 4 ) a plurality of conductive terminals, or a plurality of socket contacts (not shown) supported in the housing 11; engagement means in the form of a pair of hook members 30 rotatably mounted to a fulcrum Portion 12 forms part of connector housing 11 . The connector 10 also includes a slide member, generally in the form of a housing member 40 that extends over the plurality of hook members 30 and at least partially covers the housing 11 . Each hook member 30 becomes a thin plate extending along the side surfaces of the correspondingly opposed connector housings 11 . The fulcrum portion 12 becomes part of the connector housing 11 and serves as a center of rotation about which the hook member 30 rotates. As such, the center is preferably located centrally along the longitudinal direction of the connector housing 11 . 3 and 4, each hook member 30 has an engaging end 33 that terminates in a protrusion 33a having a tooth or barb shape. The mating connector 20 has a plurality of mating engagement notches 21 each having a step 21 a for engaging one engagement end 33 of the hook member 30 .

Each hook member 30 has an overall Y shape and also has two additional ends or free arms 34 , 35 . One of the free arms 34 is in the form of a leaf spring, or arm 34 for pushing the engaging end 33 of the hook member to rotate clockwise towards the engaging notch 121 of the mating connector, while the other free arm 35 is in the form of the contact arm 35. The form serves to actuate the hook to the released position when it contacts the guide ramp 41 of the sliding cover 40 . This contact causes counterclockwise rotation of the engaging tip 33 to release the hook member 30 from the position where it engages the notch 21 of the mating connector.

The locking or engaging device of the connector of the present invention comprises: a pair of hook members 30 extending respectively along the side surfaces of the housing 11 of the corresponding opposite connector 10; a pair of fulcrum portions 12 supporting the hooks member 30, so that a plurality of hook members 30 rotate on the housing 11. The device also includes a pair of engaging notches 21 formed on the mating connector 20 for engaging a plurality of engaging ends 33, and the device further includes a plurality of contact arms 34 for engaging a plurality of hook members 30 ; and a plurality of release arms 35 for releasing the plurality of hook members from their engaged positions with the plurality of mating connector notches 21 . A plurality of contact arms 34 is used to push the plurality of hook members to move in one direction, and a plurality of release arms 35 is used to push the plurality of hook members to move in the opposite direction. This rotational movement is obtained by the linear movement of sliding the cover into position on the connector. In Figures 5-7, movement of the plurality of hook members can be seen in response to movement of the sliding cage.

The release mechanism includes a sliding cover 40 that is slidable in the axial direction of the cable 1 relative to the housing 11 . The end surface of the sliding cover 40 has a cable through hole 40 a through which the cable 1 passes so that the sliding cover 40 can slide along the cable 1 . By the movement of the slide cover 40 , the plurality of members 30 rotate in a direction such that the plurality of engaging pieces 33 disengage from the plurality of engaging notches 21 .

The release mechanism also includes a plurality of guide ramps 41 in the slide housing 40 ; and when the slide housing 40 is slid away from the mating connector 20 , the contact piece 35 contacts the guide ramps 41 to rotate the hook member 30 . This arrangement enables actuation of the release mechanism by simply sliding said sliding cover 40 .

In this embodiment, the release mechanism is actuated when the sliding cover 40 is slid in a direction away from the mating connector 20 (that is, toward the user). In this way, by simply pulling the sliding cover 40 away from the mating connector, the release mechanism is actuated to release the lock, and by further pulling the sliding cover 40 in the same direction, the connector 10 can be removed from the mating connector 20 . Thus, the connector can be disengaged by simply pulling the sliding cover 40 towards the user.

The free end of the contact piece 35 of the plate-shaped hook member 30 and the free end of the spring piece 34 of the hook member 30 are separated from each other at a predetermined interval in the sliding cover 40, and the free end of the contact piece 35 and the spring are arranged. The free end of the contact piece 34, so that when the free end of the contact piece 35 contacts the slope 41 of the guide, the spring piece 34 is elastically deformed. Thus, when the release mechanism is actuated, the leaf spring 34 is elastically deformed, and when the release mechanism is not actuated, the leaf spring 34 is in an undeflected state. In this manner, the plurality of plate-shaped hook members 30 can be operated by manipulation of the slide cover 40 .

And, by sliding the sliding cover 40 towards the mating connector 20, the locking means is actuated. With this arrangement, if the connector 10 is connected to the mating connector 20 by a user at the disposal of the sliding cover 40, mating of multiple connectors can be obtained while the locking means maintains the activated state.

The plurality of side surfaces 11a of the casing 11 are formed as a plurality of planar surfaces extending parallel to each other. Each plate-shaped hook member 30 is rotatably connected to the housing 11 such that one surface of the plurality of hook members 30 contacts one of the plurality of side surfaces 11 a , 11 a of the corresponding housing 11 . In this way, gaps between the plurality of hook members 30 and corresponding ones of the plurality of side surfaces 11a are substantially eliminated. In this way, the width D of the connector 10 can be minimized.

The fulcrum portion 12 for the plate-shaped hook member 30 is shown in its preferred shape, that is, the shape of a protrusion protruding from the side surface 11a of the housing 11, and said fulcrum portion 12 is inserted and placed on the hook member. The mounting hole 36 of the center part of 30. As shown in FIG. 8 , the fitting hole 36 is circular, but in order to slow down the rotation speed of the plurality of hook members 30 therein, other shapes may be adopted. The hook member 30 is preferably formed of synthetic resin to provide sufficient elasticity to the leaf spring 34 . The fulcrum portion 12 and the fitting hole 36 can optionally be a recessed portion and a raised portion mating to the recessed portion, respectively.

2 and 3, the mating connector 20 has a plurality of connector guides 22 for guiding a plurality of connectors 10 arranged horizontally and vertically in a grid pattern. The plurality of connector guides 22 allow the plurality of connectors 10 to be easily connected to the corresponding plurality of mating connectors, and function to protect the connectors 10 .

Each connector guide 22 has a plurality of side surface support plates 23, 23 that support a plurality of side surface support plates 23, 23 of the housing 11 when the connector 10 is mated with the mating connector 20. side surface. A plurality of engaging notches 21 are provided on inner wall portions of the plurality of side surface support plates 23 , 23 . In order to reduce the distance between the plurality of side surface support plates 23 , 23 , a plurality of engaging notches 21 are provided on the plurality of inner wall portions of the plurality of side surface support plates 23 , 23 .

The opening portion of the engaging recess 21 of the mating connector 20 has a guide part 24, and when the engaging piece 33 enters the engaging recess 21, the guide part 24 moves away from the engaging recess 21 (as shown in FIG. 5 to 7, moving the engaging piece 33 counterclockwise with respect to the fulcrum portion 12 causes the spring piece 34 to abut against the inner surface of the sliding cover 40, thereby elastically deforming the spring piece 34 in a clockwise direction. By elastically deforming the spring piece 34 in the clockwise direction (as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 ), an engaging force acting in the counterclockwise direction is generated in the spring piece 34 . This counterclockwise force causes an increase in the engaging force acting on the engaging piece 33 opposite to the engaging notch 21 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , the mating connector 20 has a plurality of pin contacts 25 that pass through the motherboard M of the computer and extend between the plurality of side surface support plates 23 , 23 of each connector guide 22 . A plurality of socket contacts (not shown) are provided within the housing 11 of the connector 10 for connecting a plurality of pin contacts 25 . With this arrangement, the mating connector 20 is mounted to the main board M in such a manner that it is integrated with the main board M. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the cable connector thus constructed, by simply inserting the connector 10 between the plurality of side surface support plates 23, 23 of the mating connector 20, the locking means works so that the plurality of engaging pieces The plurality of protrusions 33 a of the plurality of engagement recesses 21 are engaged with the plurality of steps 21 a of the plurality of engagement recesses 21 .

Next, the operation of the locking device and the release mechanism will be explained in detail. Referring to FIG. 5, during the insertion of the connector 10 into the mating connector 20, the guide surfaces 33b at the front ends of the engagement pieces 33 contact the guides of the engagement recesses 21. portion 24, so that a plurality of engaging pieces 33 are pressed down. At this time, since the front ends of the plurality of spring pieces 34 are in contact with the inner surface of the sliding cover 40, the plurality of spring pieces 34 are elastically deformed, thereby generating an engaging force, pushing the plurality of engaging pieces 33 and the plurality of projections 33a and the plurality of engagement pieces engaging notches 21.

When the mating of the connector 10 and the mating connector 20 is close to the final stage, the engagement force on the plurality of spring pieces 34 causes the plurality of engagement pieces 33 to move upward in the plurality of engagement recesses 21 in FIG. 5 , thereby The plurality of protrusions 33a engage with the plurality of steps 21a. Therefore, the locking device is actuated.

Referring to FIG. 6 , when the locking device is released, the sliding cover 40 moves in a direction away from the mating connector 20 , (that is, toward the user's side) thereby pulling and removing the connector 10 . Accordingly, the plurality of guide slopes 41 of the slide cover 40 move relative to the plurality of contact pieces 35 . At this time, since the plurality of contact pieces 35 move along the plurality of guide slopes 41 , the plurality of hook members 30 are slightly rotated in a counterclockwise direction around the plurality of fulcrum portions 12 as shown in FIG. 6 . As a result, the engagement between the plurality of engaging pieces 33 and the plurality of engaging recesses 21 is released. In this way, the locking device is released.

Referring to FIG. 7, after releasing the locking device, the sliding cover 40 is also pushed in a direction away from the mating connector 20, so that a protrusion (not shown) formed on the sliding cover 40 engages a notch formed on the connector 10. part (not shown), whereby the connector 10 can be removed from the mating connector 20 by simply pulling the sliding cover 40 in a direction away from the mating connector 20 after the locking device release operation.

Thus, in the present embodiment, a pair of plate-shaped hook members 30 extending along a plurality of opposite side surfaces of the housing 11 are rotatably connected with respect to the housing 11 of the connector 10 . Each hook member 30 is in the form of a thin plate, and extends along the side surface of the corresponding housing 11 . Therefore, the width D of the locking device can be minimized to facilitate high-density mounting of multiple connectors. With this arrangement, the locking device can also be placed in two positions of the connector housing to increase the reliability of the locking device.

In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the present invention is applied to a cable connector connected to a motherboard. However, the invention can be applied to any other connector that requires locking means.

As described above, according to the cable connector of the present invention, by providing the locking means at two positions on the connector instead of one, it is possible to improve the reliability of the locking means. Having the locking means in two positions provides more effective torque and push forces on the mating connector interface. High density mounting of multiple connectors is also facilitated by reducing the width of the locking device. Further, by adopting this arrangement, that is, by sliding the sliding cover placed on the connector in a direction away from the mating connector, thereby activating the release mechanism for the locking device, the connector is easily disengaged and moved from the mating connector. go.

Now that the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims to limit.

Claims (13)

1. A cable connector (10) for mating with a mating connector (20), comprising: A connector housing (11); a plurality of conductive terminals disposed within the connector housing (11); locking means for locking a connector engaged with a mating connector; and a lock release for releasing said locking means device, the locking device includes: a pair of hook members (30), which respectively extend along the opposite side surfaces of the connector housing (11); a pair of fulcrum parts (12), which are placed on the connecting on the connector housing (11), and rotatably support the hook member (30) on it, when the connector (10) and the mating connector (20) are connected together, the hook member (30) engages and places engagement recess (21) in said butt connector (20); characterized by: The hook member (30) includes: an engaging end (33) formed at a first free end of the hook member (30); and a spring contact arm (34) formed at a first free end of the hook member (30) The second free end is formed, and the spring contact arm (34) pushes the hook member (30) in a first rotational direction about the fulcrum portion (12), so that the engaging end (33) engages the mating connector (20 ) of said engaging notches (21); and Wherein said lock release means comprises a cover (40) which is slidably mounted to said connector housing (11) and capable of A third free end forms a release arm (35) for axial sliding movement whereby movement of the cover (40) in a first direction causes the spring contact arm (34) to push the hook member engaging end ( 33) to rotate into a position engaged with the mating connector engaging notch (21), and movement of the cover (40) in a second direction causes the release arm (35) to rotate the hook member engaging end (33) out of position to engage with said mating connector engaging notch (21). 2. The cable connector (10) according to claim 1, wherein said locking release device further comprises a guide slope (41) formed together with said cover (40), when said sliding cover (40) When sliding in the second direction, the release arm (35) contacts the guide ramp (41). 3. The cable connector (10) of claim 2, wherein the release means is actuated when the shroud (40) is slid away from the mating connector (20). 4. The cable connector (10) according to claim 2, wherein said spring contact arm (34) is separated from said release arm (35) so that when said release arm (35) contacts said guide The spring contact arm (34) is deflected when the component ramp (41) is pressed. 5. The electrical cable connector (10) of claim 1, wherein said locking means is actuated when said cover (40) is slid towards said mating connector (20). 6. The cable connector (10) according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of side surfaces (11a) of the connector housing (11) are formed as a plurality of planar surfaces extending parallel to each other, and each of the The hook member (30) contacts a corresponding one of the side surfaces of the connector housing (11). 7. The cable connector (10) according to claim 1, wherein the fulcrum portion (12) of the hook member (30) is adopted from the side surface (11a) of the connector housing (11) protruding protruding form, and inserted into a fitting hole (36) placed in the main body portion of said hook member (30). 8. The cable connector (10) according to claim 1, wherein said mating connector (20) has a plurality of connector guides (22) for connecting horizontally and vertically arranged in a grid shape The plurality of connectors (10). 9. The cable connector (10) according to claim 8, wherein each connector guide (22) has a plurality of side surface support plates (23), when the connector (10) is connected to the When the connector (20) is mated, the plurality of side surface support plates (23) support the plurality of side surfaces (11a) of the connector housing (11), and the engaging recesses (21) are provided to the side surfaces The inner wall portion of the support plate (23). 10. The cable connector (10) according to claim 9, wherein said mating connector (20) comprises a plurality of pin contacts (25) passing through the motherboard to the electronic device, and the plurality of pin contacts Points (25) protrude within each of said connector guides (22) and provide connections to pin contacts (25) within said housing (11) of said connector (10) multiple socket contacts. 11. A locking device for securing a connector (10) to a mating connector (20), said locking device comprising: A hook member (30) rotatably fixed to the connector (10), said hook member (30) including an engaging piece (33) placed on one side of the rotation center of the hook member (30) , for engaging a part of the mating connector (20) to fix the connector (10) thereto, and a spring piece (34), which is placed on the side opposite to the engaging piece (33) with respect to the center of rotation; a guide portion (24) formed on the mating connector; and a sliding boot (40) slidably mounted to a portion of the connector (10), the sliding boot (40) including an inner surface positioned in place so that the sliding boot (40) relative to the connector During the movement, the engaging piece (33) abuts against the guide portion (24) of the mating connector (20) to apply a rotational moment to the hook member (30) in a first direction around the center of rotation, and the sliding cover (40) During sliding movement relative to the connector (10), the leaf spring (34) abuts the inner surface of the sliding housing to apply a rotational moment to the hook member in a second direction opposite to the first direction about the center of rotation ( 30) on. 12. The locking device according to claim 11, wherein the hook member (30) further comprises a contact piece (35), which is placed on the side opposite to the engagement piece (33) relative to the center of rotation, and the sliding cover ( 40) Also includes a guide ramp (41) positioned such that the contact piece (35) abuts the slide boot guide ramp during sliding movement of the slide boot (40) relative to the connector (10) (41) to apply a rotational moment to the hook member (30) in a first direction about the center of rotation. 13. A locking device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the hook member (30) is generally "Y" shaped.

Images