JP-7857062-B2 - Lever-type connector

JP7857062B2JP 7857062 B2JP7857062 B2JP 7857062B2JP-7857062-B2

Inventors

小林亨
▲高▼島直人
宮崎博司

Assignees

矢崎総業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221031

Claims (2)

A connector body having an inner housing and a front mask housing the inner housing, which mates with a mating connector, The connector body is rotatably mounted on the connector body and includes a lever that rotates from an initial position to a mating position to bring the connector body and the mating connector closer together and mat them, The lever comprises a first side plate having a pivot point at one end and entering between the inner housing and the front mask, a second side plate having a pivot point at one end and positioning the inner housing between itself and the first side plate, and an operating part connecting the other ends of the first and second side plates. A temporary locking arm is formed on one end of the first side plate, having an arm portion that can bend toward the second side plate, and a projection that protrudes from the free end of the arm portion toward the opposite side of the second side plate. The connector body is formed with a pivot point receiving portion into which the pivot point portion of the first side plate fits, and a pivot point receiving portion into which the pivot point portion of the second side plate fits. An opening is formed in the aforementioned front mask. When the lever is in the initial position, the projection of the temporary locking arm is located inside the opening and contacts the inner edge of the opening, thereby restricting the rotation of the lever. The arm portion of the temporary locking arm bends toward the second side plate, and the projection disengages from the opening, allowing the lever to rotate. A lever-type connector characterized in that, when an external force is applied to the lever located in the initial position, a deflection restricting portion is formed on one end of the first side plate, which contacts the temporary locking arm that has been deformed by the external force, thereby restricting the deflection of the arm portion toward the second side plate.
The arm portion of the temporary locking arm is formed in a cantilevered shape by forming a notch in the first side plate. The deflection restricting portion is positioned adjacent to the temporary locking arm via the notch, The deflection restricting portion has, in the natural state of the temporary locking arm, an opposing portion located on the second side plate side of the arm portion and facing the second side plate, and a vertical portion extending from the opposing portion to the side opposite the second side plate and perpendicular to the opposing portion. The lever-type connector according to claim 1, characterized in that when an external force is applied to the lever positioned in the initial position, the temporary locking arm, which is deformed by the external force, comes into contact with the corner where the opposing portion and the vertical portion intersect, thereby restricting the bending of the arm portion toward the second side plate.

Description

This invention relates to a lever-type connector. A lever-type connector is known in which a lever is rotatably mounted on the connector body, and the rotation of the lever brings the connector body and the mating connector closer together for mating (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Figures 9-11 show a lever-type connector designed by the present inventor. This lever-type connector 501 comprises a connector body 4 that mates with a mating connector, a spacer (for double-locking the female terminal, not shown in the figure), a cover 6, and a lever 507. The connector body 4 consists of an inner housing 2 containing multiple female terminals and a front mask 3 housing the inner housing 2. These female terminals are connected to the ends of electric wires. Although not shown in the diagram, these wires are routed outside the inner housing 2, and their routing direction is restricted by a cover 6. The lever 507 is rotatably mounted on the inner housing 2 and rotates from the initial position shown in Figures 9 and 10 to the mating position, bringing the connector body 4 closer to the mating connector for mating. The side plate of the lever 507 has a pivot point 81 fitted into the inner housing 2, a cam groove 82 into which the cam projection of the mating connector enters, and a temporary locking arm 76 for holding the lever 507 in the initial position. The temporary locking arm 76 has an arm portion 74 formed in a cantilever shape by a notch 80 formed in the side plate of the lever 507, and a projection 75 protruding from the free end of the arm portion 74. An opening 34 is formed in the front mask 3. The projection 75 of the temporary locking arm 76 is positioned within the opening 34 and contacts the inner edge 34a of the opening 34, thereby restricting the rotation of the lever 507 and holding the lever 507 in its initial position. That is, the temporary locking arm 76 shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(b) is in its natural state without elastic deformation, and in this state, the engagement allowance k with the front mask 3 holds the lever 507 in its initial position. In this type of lever-type connector 501, the lever 507 is held in its initial position when mating with the mating connector begins. This allows the cam projection of the mating connector to smoothly enter the cam groove 82 without requiring any special alignment of the lever 507. Furthermore, the lever-type connector 501 is shipped and transported with the lever 507 held in its initial position. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-125403 This is a perspective view showing a lever-type connector according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which the lever is held in its initial position.This figure shows the lever in Figure 1 rotated to the fully engaged position.Figure 1 is an exploded view of the lever-type connector.Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lever.Figure 3 is a side view of the lever.Figure 3 is a bottom view of the lever.(a) is a side view of the lever-type connector in Figure 1, and (b) is a bottom view.(a) is a side view showing the state in which an external force is applied to the lever in Figure 7 and the temporary locking arm is deformed, and (b) is a bottom view.This is a perspective view showing a lever-type connector as an example, with the lever held in its initial position.(a) is a side view of the lever-type connector in Figure 9, and (b) is a bottom view.(a) is a side view showing the state in which an external force is applied to the lever in Figure 10 and the temporary locking arm is deformed, and (b) is a bottom view. A "lever-type connector" according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8. The lever-type connector 1 shown in Figures 1-3 comprises a connector body 4, a spacer 5, a cover 6, and a lever 7 that is rotatably mounted on the connector body 4 and rotates from an initial position to a mating completion position to bring the connector body 4 closer to the mating connector and engage them. The lever 7 shown in Figures 1 and 7 is held in the initial position, while the lever 7 shown in Figure 2 is rotated to the mating completion position. The connector body 4 consists of an inner housing 2 containing multiple female terminals 12, and a front mask 3 housing the inner housing 2. The female terminals 12 are connected to the ends of the electric wires 11. Although not shown in Figures 1, 2, 7, and 8, these electric wires 11 are routed outside the inner housing 2, and their routing direction is restricted by the cover 6. The inner housing 2 is made of insulating synthetic resin and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with an upper surface 20a, a lower surface 20b, and four side surfaces 20c, 20d, 20e, and 20f. Multiple accommodating sections 21 for the female terminals 12 are formed in the inner housing 2. Each accommodating section 21 has an opening on the upper surface 20a and the lower surface 20b. On side 20f, a locking proj