This application is based on Japanese Patent Application (No. 2014-240025) filed on Nov. 27, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Also, all the references cited herein are incorporated as a whole.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector and a connection structure of the connector that are capable of allowing one connector housing and the other connector housing to be unlocked from each other by pressing an unlocking member provided in the one connector housing.
2. Background Art
JP-A-2014-56699 discloses a connector capable of allowing one connector housing and the other connector housing to be unlocked from each other by pressing an unlocking member having a pair of wedge pieces and provided in the one connector housing.
The connector disclosed in JP-A-2014-56699 functions as follows. Once the second connector housing (connector housing) is properly fitted to the first connector housing (counterpart connector housing), a pair of lock arms provided on the lateral sides of the second connector housing are in engagement with a pair of connecting engagement portions provided on the lateral sides of the first connector housing, thus locking the connector housings fitted to each other.
The second connector housing of the connector disclosed in JP-A-2014-56699 includes: arm operating pieces that are provided integrally with the lock arms and deflect the lock arms in a disengaging direction upon being pressed toward an inner space of the housing; and the unlocking member to be pushed to an unlocking position so as to press the arm operating arms toward the inner space of the housing, thus unlocking the connector housings from each other.
The pair of wedge pieces of the connector disclosed in JP-A-2014-56699 are inserted into a wedge insertion hole in the second connector housing and thus assembled into the second connector housing. The pair of wedge pieces are brought into engagement with the outer surfaces of free ends of the arm operating pieces, and are thus temporarily retained at a standby position. The pair of wedge pieces include unlocking tapered surfaces to press the outer surfaces of the free ends of the arm operating pieces toward the inner space of the housing so as to move the lock arms in an unlocking direction when the pair of wedge pieces are pushed to the unlocking position from the standby position.
Unfortunately, the connector disclosed in JP-A-2014-56699 has problems described below. The wedge insertion hole, provided in the second connector housing to allow the unlocking member to be assembled into the second connector housing, has symmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes. Thus, if the front and rear of the unlocking member are reversed, the unlocking member is still allowed to be inserted into the wedge insertion hole, making it impossible to prevent improper assembly of the unlocking member into the second connector housing.
The unlocking member of the connector disclosed in JP-A-2014-56699 is temporarily retained at the standby position by being engaged with the arm operating pieces integral with the lock arms. Thus, when the lock arms are deflected and displaced in the unlocking direction in the course of fitting the connector housings to each other, the deflection of the arm operating pieces responsive to the deflection and displacement of the lock arms reduces the area of engagement between the unlocking member and the arm operating pieces. This may release the temporary retainment of the unlocking member and result in disengagement of the unlocking member in the course of fitting the connector housings to each other.
Accordingly, to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector and a connection structure of the connector that are capable of reliably preventing improper assembly of an unlocking member into a connector housing including lock arms.
The above object of the present invention is achieved by the features described below.
a connector housing configured to be fitted to a counterpart connector housing;
a pair of lock arms integrally formed on the connector housing, and configured to be engaged with a pair of connecting engagement portions of the counterpart connector housing to lock a state where the connector housings fitted to each other;
a pair of wedge pieces configured to be assembled into a wedge insertion hole in the connector housing so as to be movable from a standby position to an unlocking position in the connector housing, the pair of wedge pieces being configured to release, when the pair of wedge pieces are pressed to the unlocking position, a locking of the connector housings fitted to each other effected by the lock arms; and
wherein each of the wedge pieces and the wedge insertion hole has an asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shape.
wherein end portions of distal surfaces of the engagement protrusions close to the center of gravity are provided with inclined surfaces to allow the wedge pieces abutting against a peripheral edge of the wedge insertion hole to tilt.
a pair of lock arms integrally formed on the connector housing, and configured to be engaged with a pair of connecting engagement portions of the counterpart connector housing to lock a state where the connector housings fitted to each other;
a pair of wedge pieces configured to be assembled into a wedge insertion hole in the connector housing so as to be movable from a standby position to an unlocking position in the connector housing, the pair of wedge pieces being configured to release, when the pair of wedge pieces are pressed to the unlocking position, a locking of the connector housings fitted to each other effected by the lock arms; and
wherein each of the wedge pieces and the wedge insertion hole has an asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shape.
The connector according to the item (1) and the connection structure according to the item (4) are configured so that the pair of wedge pieces and the wedge insertion hole, into which the pair of wedge pieces are to be inserted, each have asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes. Thus, if an attempt is made to assemble the pair of wedge pieces into the connector housing, with the front and rear of the pair of wedge pieces reversed, the pair of wedge pieces will not be inserted into the wedge insertion hole of the connector housing. Consequently, improper insertion of the unlocking member is prevented with reliability.
The connector according to the item (2) is configured so that the engagement segments of the second connector housing, which are in engagement with the engagement protrusions of the pair of wedge pieces at the standby position, are involved in neither deflection nor deformation of the lock arms. Thus, when the lock arms deflect and deform in the course of fitting the connector housings to each other, the area of engagement between the engagement protrusions of the wedge pieces and the engagement segments of the second connector housing will not decrease. Accordingly, the temporary retainment of the wedge pieces will not be loosened by the decrease in the area of engagement between the engagement protrusions of the wedge pieces and the engagement segments of the second connector housing. Consequently, the standby state of the wedge pieces is maintained with stability, and thus the reliability of the temporary retainment of the wedge pieces is improved.
The connector according to the item (3) is configured so that if the unlocking member is improperly assembled into the connector housing, the wedge pieces assembled into the connector housing will tilt under the load applied to the center of gravity of the wedge pieces, with the tapered surfaces on the distal surfaces of the engagement protrusions serving as supporting points. Consequently, improper assembly of the unlocking member into the connector housing is detected with ease and reliability.
The connector and the connection structure according to the present invention include the pair of wedge pieces and the wedge insertion hole in the connector housing, each having asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes. Thus, improper assembly of the unlocking member into the connector housing is prevented with reliability.
The present invention has been briefly described thus far. The details of the present invention will be more clearly understood by reading the following description of the embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A connector and a connection structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
A connector 3 according to the present embodiment includes: a counterpart connector housing (male connector housing) 4; a connector housing (female connector housing) 5 to be fitted to the counterpart connector housing 4; a pair of oppositely facing connecting engagement portions 42, 42 protruding from a pair of outer surfaces 41a, 41a of the counterpart connector housing 4; a pair of lock arms 52, 52 integral with the lateral sides of the connector housing 5 and associated with the pair of connecting engagement portions 42, 42; arm operating pieces 53 extending from the lock arms 52; a pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 to be assembled into a wedge insertion hole 54 in the connector housing 5; and unlocking tapered surfaces 64 on the inner surfaces of the distal ends of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62.
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, each connecting engagement portion 42 is an engagement protrusion projecting from the associated outer surface 41a. A vertical surface 42a (see
As illustrated in
In fitting the counterpart connector housing 4 and the connector housing 5 to each other, the inner housing 511 is fitted into the terminal holder 41 of the counterpart connector housing 4, and the female terminal metal fittings 501 held in the inner housing 511 are fitted to the male terminal metal fittings 401 in the terminal holder 41.
The sealing 512 fitted to the outer periphery of the distal end 511a of the inner housing 511 seals the gap between a portion of the inner housing 511 and a portion of the counterpart connector housing 4 fitted to each other.
The front holder 513 is fitted to the distal end 511a of the inner housing 511 so as to determine the positioning of the distal ends of the female terminal metal fittings 501 contained in the inner housing 511, and to prevent the sealing 512 from being detached from the distal end 511a.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The connecting engagement portions 42 of the counterpart connector housing 4 come into engagement with the engagement recesses 522 of the pair of lock arms 52 so as to restrict disengaging movement of the counterpart connector housing 4, thus locking the connector housings fitted to each other.
As illustrated in
In other words, pressing the free ends of the arm operating pieces 53 toward an inner space of the connector housing 5 deflects the lock arms 52 in the direction in which the lock arms 52 are disengaged from the connecting engagement portions 42.
The wedge insertion hole 54 is a cavity in which the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 and the connection 63, connecting the base ends of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62, are to be contained. Portions of the wedge insertion hole 54 located at the widthwise ends of the outer housing 514 are wedge insertion portions 541 and 542 into which the wedge pieces 61 and 62 are to be inserted, respectively.
The wedge insertion portions 541 and 542 extend along the up-down direction of the housing (i.e., the direction indicated by the arrow Y2 in
As illustrated in
The base ends of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are connected to each other with the connection 63, so that the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are integral with each other. Accordingly, the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are assembled as a single component into the wedge insertion hole 54.
As illustrated in
When the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are pushed to the unlocking position from the standby position (which will be described below) as indicated by the arrow Y8 in
When the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are inserted into the wedge insertion hole 54 in the outer housing 514 and reach the standby position, the engagement protrusions 65 come into engagement with engagement segments 514b of the outer tubular portion 514a of the outer housing 514 as illustrated in
The engagement segments 514b are segments of the outer housing 514 that are involved in neither deflection nor deformation of the lock arms 52. Thus, when the lock arms 52 are deflected and deformed so as to be brought beyond the connecting engagement portions 42 in fitting the connector housings to each other, the engagement segments 514b enable a sufficient area of engagement between the engagement segments 514b and the engagement protrusions 65 which is affected by neither deflection nor deformation of the lock arms 52.
With the engagement protrusions 65 abutting against (or in engagement with) the engagement segments 514b, the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are urged by the urging force of the wedge urging means 516 exerted on the connection 63, such that the abutment of the engagement protrusions 65 against the engagement segments 514b is maintained. In other words, the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are urged by the urging force of the wedge urging means 516 so that the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are retained at the standby position.
The pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are temporarily fixed at the standby position in the connector housing 5 illustrated in
The pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 according to the present embodiment are assembled into the wedge insertion hole 54 in the outer housing 514, and held in the outer housing 514 such that the wedge pieces 61 and 62 are movable between the standby position and the unlocking position which are located away from each other in the housing up-down direction perpendicular to the direction in which the connector housings are fitted to each other. Pressing the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 to the unlocking position releases the locking of the connector housings fitted to each other effected by the lock arms 52.
In the present embodiment, the engagement protrusions 65 protrude from the outer surfaces of the distal ends of the wedge pieces 61 and 62. Thus, the distal ends of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 each have asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes.
In other words, the connector 3 according to the present embodiment includes the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 and the wedge insertion hole 54 each having asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes.
As illustrated in
Suppose that an attempt is made to assemble the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 described above into the wedge insertion hole 54, with the front and rear of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 reversed. In that case, the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 act as follows. As illustrated in
Next, referring to
Although not illustrated, when the counterpart connector housing 4 and the connector housing 5 are completely fitted to each other, the connecting engagement portions 42 come into engagement with the engagement recesses 522 of the lock arms 52. Thus, the lock arms 52 return to their original shapes, causing the ends 53a of the arm operating pieces 53 to assume their initial positions illustrated in
The connector 3 according to the above-described embodiment is configured so that the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 and the wedge insertion hole 54, into which the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 are to be inserted, each have asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shapes. Thus, when an attempt is made to assemble the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 into the connector housing, with the front and rear of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 reversed, the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 will not be inserted into the wedge insertion hole 54 of the connector housing 4. Consequently, improper insertion of the unlocking member is prevented with reliability.
The connector 3 according to the present embodiment is configured so that the engagement segments 514b of the connector housing 5, which are in engagement with the engagement protrusions 65 of the pair of wedge pieces 61 and 62 at the standby position, are involved in neither deflection nor deformation of the lock arms 52. Thus, when the lock arms 52 deflect and deform in the course of fitting the connector housings to each other, the area of engagement between the engagement protrusions 65 of the wedge pieces 61 and 62 and the engagement segments 514b of the connector housing 5 will not decrease. Accordingly, the temporary retainment of the wedge pieces will not be loosened by the decrease in the area of engagement between the engagement protrusions 65 of the wedge pieces 61 and 62 and the engagement segments 514b of the connector housing 5. Consequently, the temporary engagement of the wedge pieces with the connector housing 5 is maintained with stability, and thus the reliability of the temporary retainment of the wedge pieces is improved.
The connector 3 according to the present embodiment is configured so that if the unlocking member is improperly assembled into the connector housing 5, the wedge pieces 61 and 62 assembled into the connector housing 5 will tilt under the load applied to the center of gravity of the wedge pieces 61 and 62, with the tapered surfaces on the distal surfaces of the engagement protrusions 65 serving as the supporting points. Consequently, improper assembly of the unlocking member into the connector housing 5 is detected with ease and reliability.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Changes or modifications, for example, may be made to the present invention as deemed appropriate. Each constituent element in the above-described embodiment is not limited to any particular material, shape, size, number, arrangement, or location, for example. A material for each constituent element may be any material suitable for carrying out the invention. Each constituent element may have any shape or size suitable for carrying out the invention. The number of each constituent element may be any number suitable for carrying out the invention. The arrangement or location of each constituent element may be any arrangement or location suitable for carrying out the invention.
For example, the connecting engagement portions 42 may be provided on the inner surface of the counterpart connector housing 4 instead of the outer surface of the counterpart connector housing 4. The connecting engagement portions 42 may be recesses in the counterpart connector housing 4 instead of the protrusions from the counterpart connector housing 4.
The features of the connector and the connection structure according to the embodiment of the present invention described thus far are summarized as follows.
a connector housing (5) configured to be fitted to a counterpart connector housing (4);
a pair of lock arms (52, 52) integrally formed on the connector housing (5) and configured to be engaged with a pair of connecting engagement portions (42, 42) of the counterpart connector housing (4) to lock a state where the connector housings fitted to each other;
a pair of wedge pieces (61, 62) configured to be assembled into a wedge insertion hole (54) in the connector housing (5) so as to be movable from a standby position to an unlocking position in the connector housing (5), the pair of wedge pieces (61, 62) being configured to release, when the pair of wedge pieces are pressed to the unlocking position, a locking of the connector housings fitted to each other effected by the lock arms (52); and
wherein each of the wedge pieces (61, 62) and the wedge insertion hole (54) has an asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shape.
wherein the engagement protrusions (65) are engaged with engagement segments (514b) to prevent the wedge pieces (61, 62) from moving out of the standby position, engagement segments (514b) being formed at a portion of the connector housing (5) where deflection and deformation of the lock arms (52) are not affected when the wedge pieces (61, 62) are at the standby position; and
wherein each of the engagement protrusions (65) has an asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shape.
wherein end portions of distal surfaces of the engagement protrusions (65) close to the center of gravity are provided with inclined surfaces (652) to allow the wedge pieces (61) abutting against a peripheral edge of the wedge insertion hole (54) to tilt.
the connection structure including:
a pair of lock arms (52, 52) integrally formed on the connector housing (5), and configured to be engaged with a pair of connecting engagement portions (42,42) of the counterpart connector housing (4) to lock a state where the connector housings (4,5) fitted to each other;
a pair of wedge pieces (61, 62) configured to be assembled into a wedge insertion hole (54) in the connector housing (4) so as to be movable from a standby position to an unlocking position in the counterpart connector housing (4), the pair of wedge pieces (61, 62) being configured to release, when the pair of wedge pieces (61, 62) are pressed to the unlocking position, a locking of the connector housings (4, 5) fitted to each other effected by the lock arms (52); and
wherein each of the wedge pieces (61, 62) and the wedge insertion hole (54) has an asymmetrical front and rear cross-sectional shape.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-240025 | Nov 2014 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5330366 | Tsuji | Jul 1994 | A |
6106321 | Yoshida | Aug 2000 | A |
20140073168 | Watanabe | Mar 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2007-220362 | Aug 2007 | JP |
2014-056699 | Mar 2014 | JP |
Entry |
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Communication dated Dec. 6, 2016, issued by the Japanese Patent Office in counterpart Japanese application No. 2014-240025. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20160156128 A1 | Jun 2016 | US |