JPH0336043Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to electrical connectors that fit together to establish electrical connections between internal contacts.

(Prior Art) Connectors have been used in the past in which female and male housings each having a plurality of contacts are fitted together and the corresponding contacts are connected. A locking mechanism is provided for locking and holding both housings in this state to prevent them from becoming disengaged.

In this type of mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a lever 50 that integrally includes an operating portion 51, a lock claw 52, and a fulcrum portion 53 is attached to one housing 55, and this housing is connected to the other housing. A housing is used in which the lock pawl 52 is engaged with the other housing when the two housings are fitted. In some cases, the lever has only an operating part and a lock pawl, and a separate part such as a pin is used to form the fulcrum. In the case of such conventional mechanisms, the formation of the fulcrum part may result in poor material selection during lever manufacturing, or complicated manufacturing, which may increase manufacturing costs. There is also the problem that manufacturing costs increase due to the use of separate parts such as.

(Purpose of the invention) In view of these circumstances, the present invention provides only an operating part and a lock claw on the locking lever body, and instead of providing a support part as in conventional levers, multiple support parts are provided instead of this support part. It is an object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism in which support points are provided and the spring characteristics are utilized so that a function similar to that of a conventional lever having a support portion can be obtained by these points.

(Structure of the invention) The locking mechanism of the invention is a connector that is provided with a two-part housing body, has a hook on the front face, and includes locking levers on both sides that are operated from side openings and are engaged with a mating connector. The locking lever is formed of an elastic plate-like member having a substantially linear portion and a substantially C-shaped portion, and has a hook at one end on the linear portion side and an operating portion at the other end on the substantially C-shaped portion side. A branch leg cut and raised from the locking lever is integrally formed approximately at the center of the C-shaped portion, and a branch leg cut and raised from the locking lever is integrally formed on both sides of at least one of the two housing bodies. A mounting groove that opens to the front surface and substantially matches the shape of the locking lever is formed between an outer wall of the housing body and an inner wall along the outer wall, and the locking lever has the branch leg inserted into the mounting groove. It is characterized in that it is assembled into both housing bodies by being held in contact with the inner wall.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector having a locking mechanism according to the present invention. A female housing 10 having a plurality of contacts therein is fixed to a board 1 with bolts 2, and A male housing 20 having contacts therein is fittable. male housing 20
The housing body 22, 2 is divided into upper and lower halves.
3 (two-part housing body) holds an insert 21 holding a plurality of contacts, and both housing bodies 22 and 23 are tightened together by bolts 3 and nuts 4. For this reason, the front part of the insert 21 is inserted into the female housing 10.
The male and female housings 10 and 20 are fitted together by being inserted into the receiving part 11 protruding from the front side of the body, and at this time, each contact of the inserting body 21 comes into contact with a corresponding contact in the receiving part 11. and connect electrically. On the other hand, a pair of locking levers 30, 30 are built into both sides of the male housing 20.
Hooks 32, 32 are formed at the front end of the linear portion 5 of the 0, and protrude forward from the front side of the male housing 20, and an operating portion 3 is provided at the rear end of the substantially C-shaped portion 6.
1 and 31 are formed and the male housing 20
It protrudes laterally from both sides of the. Furthermore, the receiving portion 11 on the front side of the female housing 10
A pair of locking protrusions 12, 12 are provided on both sides of the locking lever 30.
2 are engaged with the locking protrusions 12, 12, so that both housings 10, 20 are held in a fitted state. Note that the front surfaces of both housings 10 and 20 refer to surfaces that face each other when both housings 10 and 20 are fitted together.

Figure 2 shows the locking lever 30 and the upper and lower housing bodies 22, 23 taken out.
The locking lever 30 is inserted into lever mounting grooves 24, 24 formed by an outer wall 26 and an inner wall 28 on both sides of the housing body 23. This mounting groove 24 has front openings 24a, 24a toward the front of the housing, and side openings 24b, 24b toward the side, and the locking lever 30 installed in the mounting groove 24 has a tip hook 32 that is connected to the front opening 24a. The operating portion 31 protrudes to the side from the side opening 24b. Although only the lower housing body 23 has been described here, the upper housing body 22 and the lower housing body 23 are symmetrical. The locking lever 30 is made of a flat plate (elastic plate-like member) made of an elastic material that is bent as shown in the figure to match the shape of the mounting groove 24, and a part of this plate is cut and bent as shown in the figure. A tongue-shaped branched leg 33 is formed.

FIG. 3 shows the state in which the locking lever 30 is attached to the mounting groove 24, and the locking lever 30 shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure is the locking lever 30.
0 indicates a state in which no external force is applied, and the locking lever 30 indicated by a solid line indicates a state when the operating portion 31 is pressed by an external force F. The tip 33a of the branch leg 33 has a shape that extends outward from the groove width of the mounting groove 24, so push the tip 33a in.
The locking lever 30 is mounted in the mounting groove 24 with the branch leg 33 elastically deformed. Therefore, as shown by the two-dot chain line, when no external force is applied, the tip 33a of the branch leg 33, the first support point 3
4 and the second support point 35 abut against the inner wall of the mounting groove 24 . At this time, the elastic force generated by the elastic deformation of the branch leg 33 is applied to the locking lever 30.
The hooks 32 of the female housing 10 are bent inward, so that the hooks 32 are engaged with the locking protrusions 12 of the female housing 10. From this state, the operation section 3
1 is pressed by an external force F, the lever 30 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure using the second support point 35 as a fulcrum against the elastic force, and the operating portion 31 is rotated internally as shown by the solid line. The hook 32 moves outward. By moving the hook 32 outward, it is disengaged from the locking protrusion 12, so you can manually
By pulling the male housing 20 backward while pressing 1, the female and male housings 10 and 20 can be disconnected. After this, when the pressing force F on the operating portion 31 is released, the elastic force of the branch leg 33 causes the locking lever 30 to return to the position shown by the two-dot chain line.

(Effect of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention, substantially the entire locking lever is attached to the mounting groove provided on both sides of the housing body, which matches the shape of the locking lever, and the branch leg is attached to the inner wall of the mounting groove. Since they are held in contact with each other, the locking lever is always reliably held within the mounting groove due to the elasticity of the branch legs. Further, even after the connector is fitted, there is no play, and a stable engagement force can be maintained without being affected by external force. Therefore, stable and reliable engagement can be achieved in any situation.

Furthermore, since almost the entire locking lever is held within the connector, there is no problem of the locking lever becoming disengaged or being damaged or falling off due to external force, and is aesthetically pleasing.

Furthermore, the locking mechanism of the present invention can be assembled by simply dropping the locking lever into the mounting groove of the housing body.
That is, since the groove can be inserted from a perpendicular direction and the work can be performed from one side, the work efficiency is high and the assembly process can be improved. The groove is relatively large, making it easy to assemble and work well. In addition, the locking mechanism of the present invention works in cooperation with the locking lever and the mounting groove, which are integrally formed from an elastic plate-like member.
There is no need to construct a fulcrum using a separate part such as a pin, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector having a locking mechanism according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper and lower housing bodies and the locking lever used in the connector, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the locking lever on the housing body. A plan view showing a state in which a lever is attached, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views showing a locking mechanism of a conventional electrical connector. 5... Straight part, 6... C-shaped part, 22, 23...
...Housing body, 24...Mounting groove, 24b...
...Side opening, 26...Outer wall, 28...Inner wall, 30
... Locking lever, 31 ... Operation section, 32 ...
...Futsuku, 33...branched legs.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A connector comprising a two-part housing body, having locking levers on both sides that are operated from a side opening and that locks with a mating connector and has a hook on the front, wherein the locking lever is It is formed of an elastic plate-like member having a substantially linear part and a substantially C-shaped part, and has a hook at one end on the linear part side, an operating part at the other end on the substantially C-shaped part side, and an operating part on the C-shaped part side. A branch leg cut and raised from the locking lever is integrally formed approximately in the center of the part, and an outer wall of the one housing body is formed on both sides of at least one of the two housing bodies. and an inner wall along the outer wall, a mounting groove that opens to the front surface and substantially matches the shape of the locking lever is formed, and the locking lever has the branch leg in the mounting groove in contact with the inner wall. A locking mechanism for a connector, characterized in that the locking mechanism is assembled in both housing bodies while being held in contact with each other.