Patent Grant
12255422
This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 202121361427.6 filed on Jun. 18, 2021 in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a connector and a connector assembly comprising the connector.
In the prior art, in order to realize the rapid electrical connection between cables or between cable and electrical equipment, plug connectors and socket connectors suitable for rapid mating are usually adopted. In the prior art, in order to prevent the separation of the matched plug connector and socket connector, an elastic latch is usually provided on the housing of the plug connector, which is suitable for locking the housing of the socket connector. Generally, the elastic latch can be unlocked so that the plug connector and the socket connector can be separated and reused.
In the prior art, in order to prevent the elastic latch from being accidentally unlocked due to wrong operation, it is necessary to set a connection position safety mechanism on the socket connector, which can move between the safety position and the pre locking position. After the plug connector is inserted into the socket connector, the elastic latch can be kept in the locked position by moving the connection position safety mechanism of the connection position to the safety position, so as to avoid the accidental unlocking of the elastic latch due to wrong operation. In the prior art, when the connection position safety mechanism is moved backward to the pre locking position, the human finger can contact the elastic latch, so that the elastic latch can be pushed to the unlocking position by the human finger, which leads to the risk of accidental unlocking of the elastic latch.
In addition, in the prior art, the elastic latch and the connection position safety mechanism are usually provided on the plug connector and the socket connector respectively, which leads to complex connector structure and high cost.
The present invention has been made to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the above mentioned disadvantages.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector comprises of: a housing adapted to be inserted into a mating housing of a mating connector; an elastic latch provided on an outer wall of the housing and having a locking part for locking the mating housing and an unlocking part for unlocking the locking part; and a connection position safety mounted on the outer wall of the housing and adapted to be moved between a safety position to prevent the elastic latch from being unlocked and a pre locking position to allow the elastic latch to be unlocked. When the locking part is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part is hidden inside the connection position safety, so that human finger cannot contact the unlocking part.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety is pre-installed on the housing before the connector is mated with the mating connector; a blocking part is formed on the elastic latch to block the connection position safety in a pre installation position and prevent the connection position safety from being moved to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, during the connector is mated with the mating connector, the mating housing pushes the elastic latch to move the blocking part to a position separate from the connection position safety, so as to allow the connection position safety to be moved from the pre installation position to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the locking part has not been locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part of the elastic latch blocks the connection position safety in the pre locking position to prevent the connection position safety from being moved to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the locking part has been locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part is elastically reset to a position separate from the connection position safety, so as to allow the connection position safety to be moved from the pre locking position to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the elastic latch comprises: a cantilever part on which the locking part, the unlocking part and the blocking part are formed; and a fixing part connected with the cantilever part and fixedly installed on the housing, the locking part protrudes upward from the cantilever part and adapted to be locked into an opening on the mating housing.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a slot is formed on the housing, and the fixing part is adapted to be inserted into the slot; an elastic latching piece is formed on the fixing part, and a blocking step is formed on the housing; when the fixing part is inserted into the slot, the elastic latching piece rests against the blocking step to prevent the fixing part from being pulled out of the slot.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the blocking part comprises a pair of wings respectively formed on both sides of the cantilever part; the unlocking part is a free end of the cantilever part which is capable of being moved up and down elastically.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety comprises of: a pair of side walls; a top wall connected between the pair of side walls; and a connecting wall located below the top wall and connected between the pair of side walls. When the locking part is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part is hidden by the top wall, so that human finger cannot contact the unlocking part.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a notch is formed on the top wall of the connection position safety, so as to allow the elastic latch to be pushed to the unlocking position by a tool inserted through the notch; the size of the
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a slide rail is formed on one of the connecting wall of the connecting position safety and the outer wall of the housing, and a slide slot for mating with the slide rail is formed on the other, to allow the connecting position safety to slide back and forth along the slide rail.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety further comprises a pair of elastic locking arms respectively located on the inner sides of the pair of side walls, and the pair of elastic locking arms are connected to the front end of the connecting wall and extend forward; when the locking part is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the safety position, the pair of elastic locking arms are locked into the opening on the mating housing to hold the connection position safety in the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety also includes a pair of first blocking protrusions, which are respectively formed on the pair of elastic locking arms; when the connection position safety is in the pre installation position, the blocking part on the elastic latch butts against the first blocking protrusion of the connection position safety to prevent the connection position safety from being moved from the pre installation position to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety also includes a beam, which is connected between the front ends of the pair of side walls of the connection position safety; a protruding part is formed on the outer wall of the housing; when the connection position safety is in the pre installation position, the protruding part on the housing butts against the beam of the connection position safety to prevent the connection position safety from being moved from the pre installation position toward a position separate from the housing.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection position safety also includes a second blocking protrusion, which is connected to the front end of the connecting wall of the connection position safety; when the locking part has not been locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part on the elastic latch butts against the second blocking protrusion of the connection position safety, to prevent the connection position safety from being moved from the pre locking position to the safety position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an insertion part is formed on the front end of the connecting wall of the connection position safety; when the locking part is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the safety position, the insertion part of the connection position safety is inserted below the unlocking part of the elastic latch to prevent the unlocking part from being pressed down to the unlocking position, so that the elastic latch is held in a locking position.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pair of limit protrusions are formed on the outer wall of the housing, and the pair of limit protrusions respectively butts against the outer sides of the pair of side walls of the connection position safety to prevent the lateral shaking of the connection position safety.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector assembly comprises the above connector and a mating connector suitable for mating with the connector, the mating connector comprises a mating housing having an insertion port, the connector is adapted to be inserted into the insertion port of the mating housing.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an opening is formed on the mating housing, and the locking part of the connector is adapted to be locked into the opening.
In the above exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, when the elastic latch is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part is hidden inside the connection position safety, so that human finger cannot contact the unlocking part, which can effectively prevent the elastic
In addition, in the above exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, the elastic latch and the connection position safety are provided in the same connector without being provided on the two matched connectors respectively. Therefore, the structure of the connector is simplified and the cost is reduced.
The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
According to a general concept of the present invention, there is provided a connector comprises of: a housing adapted to be inserted into a mating housing of a mating connector; an elastic latch provided on an outer wall of the housing and having a locking part for locking the mating housing and an unlocking part for unlocking the locking part; and a connection position safety mounted on the outer wall of the housing and adapted to be moved between a safety position to prevent the elastic latch from being unlocked and a pre locking position to allow the elastic latch to be unlocked. When the locking part is locked to the mating housing and the connection position safety is in the pre locking position, the unlocking part is hidden inside the connection position safety, so that human finger cannot contact the unlocking part.
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Although not shown, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a terminal is provided in the housing 100 of the connector 10 and a mating terminal is provided in the mating housing 200 of the mating connector 20. When the connector 10 and the mating connector 20 are mated together, the terminal of the connector 10 and the mating terminal of the mating connector 20 are mated together to realize the electrical connection between them.
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The mating process between the connector 10 and the mating connector 20 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Then, in the process of inserting the housing 100 into the mating housing 200, the end wall 211 of the mating housing 200 pushes the elastic latch 110 downward to move the blocking part 111b to a position separate from the connection position safety 120, so as to allow the connection position safety 120 to be moved forward from the pre installation position shown in
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It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. References to “one embodiment” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202121361427.6 | Jun 2021 | CN | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4963103 | Fink | Oct 1990 | A |
| 5120240 | Reider | Jun 1992 | A |
| 5720623 | Polenick | Feb 1998 | A |
| 6077101 | Garretson | Jun 2000 | A |
| 6354860 | Miller | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6435895 | Fink | Aug 2002 | B1 |
| 7326074 | Lim | Feb 2008 | B1 |
| 7682181 | Jones, Jr. | Mar 2010 | B1 |
| 8678846 | Hitchcock | Mar 2014 | B2 |
| 10404012 | Stoyanov | Sep 2019 | B1 |
| 20070264868 | Wolf | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220407264 A1 | Dec 2022 | US |
