Connector coupling structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6231372
  • Patent Number
    6,231,372
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 19, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 15, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
The connector coupling structure includes a connector frame 7 which has a connector 11 and a pillar-shaped projection 9 with a height higher than the connector 11 both being formed on the same face and a connector frame 3 which has a groove portion 16 in which the entirety of the connector frame 7, the connector 11 and the pillar-shaped projection 9 can be inserted. The bottom wall 19 of the groove portion 16 is configured so as to be slanted in a manner that the depth thereof becomes shallower toward the inner portion thereof from the opening position thereof. A connector 21 is provided at the inner side of the bottom wall 19 in opposite to the connector 11. The bottom wall 19 is provided at the opening side thereof in opposite to the pillar-shaped projection 9 with a hole 25 with a bottom wall in which the pillar-shaped projection 9 is inserted. The groove portion is formed in a manner that the distance between the both side walls 17 of the groove portion seen from the opening position thereof is substantially same as the width of the connector frame 7 at the inner side 17b of the groove portion and is gradually increased at a portion 17a near the opening position thereof.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to connectors for performing the electrical connection between vehiclebody side wiring and vehicle parts having electric devices and, in particular, relates to a connector coupling structure which, at the time of assembling the vehicle parts to a vehicle body, introduces the connectors to a fitting position and corrects the position thereby to surely perform the connection of the connectors as well as the assembling of the vehicle parts to the vehicle.





FIG. 12

shows the connector coupling structure described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-310316A. This connector coupling structure is arranged in a manner that, when a bolt


91


for fixing an instrument panel


85


to a vehicle body


79


is fastened. by a not-shown nut from the vehicle body


79


side, a female connector


83


connected to a vehicle-body side wire harness


81


to be wired in the vehicle body


79


is connected to a male connector


89


of an instrument-panel side wire harness


87


to be wired within the instrument panel


85


and simultaneously the instrument panel


85


is fixed to the vehicle body.




The concrete arrangement of such a related connector coupling structure and the assembling operation thereof will be explained below. The fixing portion


93


of the vehicle body


79


for fixing the instrument panel


85


is provided with a projection portion


97


which is formed protrusively therefrom and has a not-shown bolt hole and a bolt insertion hole


95


communicating with the bolt hole. In contrast, the instrument panel


85


is provided with a fixing portion


99


which is extended from the left and right end portions of the instrument panel. The fixing portion is also provided with a bolt hole


101


and a projection portion


103


which is formed protrusively therefrom and has a not-shown bolt insertion hole communicating with the bolt hole


101


. The both projection portions


97


,


103


are provided on their outer peripheral faces with engagement projections


105


,


107


for engaging with the connector, respectively. The housing


109


of the female connector


83


is provided with a fitting portion


111


which one side fitting with a male connector


89


is enlarged so as to fit with the housing


113


of the male connector


89


. The housing


109


of the female connector


83


and the housing


113


of the male connector


89


have insertion holes


115


,


117


for inserting the projections


97


,


103


therein, respectively.




The assembling of the related connector coupling structure is performed in a manner that, first, the projection portion


97


of the vehicle-body


79


side is inserted into the insertion hole


115


of the female connector


83


and the projection portion


103


of the instrument panel


85


side is inserted into the insertion hole


117


of the male connector


89


. Thereafter, the vehicle body


79


and the female connector


83


are provisionally assembled and also the instrument panel


85


and the male connector


89


are provisionally assembled while they are positioned so that the male terminal and the female terminal of the connector can be fitted. Then, the bolt


91


inserted from the bolt hole


101


of the fixing portion


99


of the instrument panel


85


is fastened by the not-shown nut from the fixing portion


93


side of the vehicle body


79


.




However, in order to prevent the deformation of the connector housing and the breakage of the connector terminal occurred upon assembling, when provisionally assembling the female connector and the male connector, it is necessary to surely align the widths of the fitting portions of both the connectors and to position so that the both connector terminals are surely fitted.




Further, even after the both connector terminals are adjusted in their positions so that they are fitted surely, when the bolt is fastened excessively upon fastening the bolt by the nut, the connector housings and the connector terminals may be broken.




In this manner, the related technique has a problem that the workability at the time of assembling the vehicle parts such as the instrument panel etc. to the vehicle body is not good and so the assembling time increases.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector coupling structure which can improve the workability of the assembling operation between vehicle parts on which connectors are mounted and a vehicle body etc.




In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a connector coupling structure comprising:




a first connector frame including:




a fitting groove, a first end portion thereof being opened, opposing side walls thereof having a first width at a second end portion thereof and being wider toward the first end portion, and bottom face thereof being slanted so as to be deeper at the first end portion;




a first fitting hole formed on the bottom face of the first end portion of the fitting groove, the first fitting hole extending in a direction perpendicular to the fitting groove, the first fitting hole having a bottom;




a first connector provided in the first fitting hole; and




a second fitting hole formed on the bottom face of an intermediate portion of the fitting groove, the second fitting hole extending parallel with the first fitting hole; and




a second connector frame including:




a base plate having a width substantially identical with the first width of the fitting groove;




a second connector provided on a first face of the base plate; and




a fitting projection provided on the first face of the base plate, the longitudinal dimension thereof being longer than a longitudinal dimension of the second connector,




the second connector frame inserted into the fitting groove from the opened first end portion thereof, slid along the fitting groove while the tip end of the fitting projection is abutted against the bottom face of the fitting groove to respectively fit the second connector and the fitting projection with the first fitting hole and the second fitting hole in order to couple the second connector with the first connector.




Preferably, a comer portion of the tip end of the fitting projection is tapered.




According to the above configuration, when the second connector frame is inserted into the fitting groove of the first connector frame from the opening of the first end portion, the second connector is introduced to the position to be fit with the first connector and corrected in its position by means of the slant side walls and the bottom face. When the fitting projection of the second connector frame is inserted into the second fitting hole of the first connector frame, the connectors are positioned at the fitting positions. Further, when the fitting projection is pushed into the second fitting hole, the first and second connectors are naturally coupled. In this manner, when the second connector frame is inserted from the opening of the first end portion of the fitting groove and slid therein, the second connector can be surely introduced to the fitting position and corrected in its position, whereby the connectors can be surely and quickly coupled.




Preferably, the second end portion of the fitting groove is closed wall face so that the second connector and the fitting projection respectively, faces to the first fitting hole and the second fitting hole when the side face of the base plate is abutted against the closed wall face.




Preferably, the first connector frame includes a bolt inserted from an opening formed on the bottom of the second fitting hole. The second connector frame includes a through hole piercing the fitting projection into which the bolt is inserted, and a nut buried in the fitting projection coaxially with the through hole, with which the bolt is fitted. The tightening operation of the bolt and the nut moves the second connector toward the first connector.




Preferably, the bolt includes a thread portion positioned so as to disengage from the nut when the first connector and the second connector are completely coupled after the tightening operation.




Preferably, the thread portion is formed such that the coupling length of the first connector and the second connector is substantially the same as an additional length of a length of the thread portion and a thickness of the nut.




Preferably, the fitting projection includes an engagement member formed on an circumferential face thereof. The fitting projection is inserted into an opening formed on a plate member, to which the second connector frame is fixed, such that the plate member is provisionally engaged between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate. An interval between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate is wider than the thickness of the plate member. The fitting projection includes elastic pieces extending from a base end portion thereof through the base plate, an interval of which is narrower than the diameter of the bolt so that the elastic pieces are spread out by the insertion of the bolt, thereby the plate member is movable between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate according to the insertion degree of the bolt.




According to the above configuration, to such a configuration, the fitting projection of the second connector frame provisionally engaged with the plate member is inserted into the second fitting hole of the first connector frame, then the first connector and the second connector are adjusted in their positions, and the bolt is inserted into the through hole and engaged with and fastened by the nut, so that the first and second connectors approach to each other in accordance with the feeding amount of the screw and coupled. When the bolt is further fastened, the thread portion of the bolt disengages from the nut and the fastening force for the bolt is released. Thus, even when the bolt is further fastened, both the connector housing and the connector terminals can be prevented from breakage. Further, in this case, since the tip end portion of the bolt is inserted between the elastic pieces, each of the plurality of elastic pieces is spread out by the bolt and the second connector frame is fixed to the plate member. In this manner, the parts of the vehicle at which the connector frames are mounted can be assembled to the vehicle body etc., the first and the second connectors can be fitted and the breakage of the connectors due to the excessive fastening at the time of the assembling operation can be prevented.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




In the accompanying drawings:





FIG. 1A

is a perspective view showing a connector coupling structure provided with a vehicle body panel and a console box casing according to a first. embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 1B

is a perspective view only showing a connector frame provided with the console box casing, which is viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow A shown in

FIG. 1A

;





FIG. 2

shows the connector coupling structure of the first embodiment before performing the coupling operation;





FIG. 3

shows the connector coupling structure of the first embodiment while performing the coupling operation;





FIG. 4

shows the connector coupling structure of the first embodiment after the coupling operation has been completed;





FIG. 5

is a perspective view showing a connector frame of a connector coupling structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 6A

is a perspective view showing a connector coupling structure provided with a vehicle body panel and a console box casing according to the second embodiment;





FIG. 6B

is a perspective view only showing a connector frame provided with the console box casing, which is viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow B shown in

FIG. 6A

;





FIG. 7A

shows a bolt to be inserted into the connector frame shown in

FIG. 5

;





FIG. 7B

is a section view showing the connector frame fixed to the vehicle body panel;





FIG. 8

shows the connector coupling structure of the second embodiment before performing the coupling operation;





FIG. 9

shows the connector coupling structure of the second embodiment while performing the coupling operation;





FIG. 10

shows the connector coupling structure of the second embodiment after the coupling operation has been completed;





FIG. 11

is a perspective view showing the vehicle body panel of the second embodiment; and





FIG. 12

is a perspective view showing a related connector coupling structure.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




The preferred embodiments of the connector coupling structure according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.




The first embodiment will be explained with reference to

FIGS. 1

to


4


.

FIG. 1A

is a perspective view of the connector coupling structure provided with a vehicle body side panel and the casing of a console box.

FIG. 1B

is a perspective view showing only a connector frame portion viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow A shown in FIG.


1


A.

FIGS. 2

to


4


show the connector coupling operation.




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a connector frame


3


is integrally formed at the inner wall face of the casing I of the console box which is made of synthetic resin and fixed to the vehicle body. A connector frame


7


made of synthetic resin is fixed to a vehicle body side panel


5


. The connector frame


7


is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. A pillar-shaped projection


9


of a quadratic prism shape is integrally formed at the one face of this connector frame,. The tip portion of the pillar-shaped projection


9


is tapered at its four side corner portions to form slanted tip faces. The connector frame


7


has two sliding faces


15


on the long sides thereof which slides and contacts with the connector frame


3


.




As shown in

FIG. 2

, the pillar-shaped projection


9


is provided with a through hole


12


for passing the shaft portion of a bolt


8


therethrough from the tip face of the pillar-shaped projection


9


toward the bottom face thereof. A nut


14


is buried within the pillar-shaped projection in a manner that its axle center portion is positioned coaxially with the through hole


12


. A connector


11


is fixed to the connector frame


7


. A wire harness


13


to be connected to the female side connector


11


is passed through a not-shown through hole provided at the vehicle body side panel


5


and the connector frame


7


and connected to the connector


11


from the back rear face side of the face of the connector frame


7


on which the pillar-shaped projection


9


is protrusively provided.




The connector frame


3


is also formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and provided with a groove portion


16


which is opened at one side face of this connector frame, as shown in FIG.


1


. The two opposite side walls


17


of the groove portion


16


is configured at its portion near the opening to form tapered portions


17




a


whose width between the side walls


17


gradually increases toward the opening, and configured at its inner portion to form parallel portions


17




b


which oppose to each other in a parallel relation and have a width therebetween substantially same as the width of the two sliding faces


15


of the connector frame


7


. The side wall of the groove portion


16


opposite to the opening is formed as an abutment face


18


against which the. connector frame


7


abuts. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the bottom wall


19


of the groove portion


16


is provided with a concave portion


23


to which a connector


21


is attached and a hole


25


with a bottom wall in which the pillar-shaped projection


9


of the connector frame


7


is inserted. A hole


27


through which the bolt


8


is inserted is provided at the bottom wall of the hole


25


. The bottom wall


19


is configured so as to be slanted in a manner that the depth thereof becomes shallower toward the inner portion from the opening side and the bottom wall continues to the tip position of the inlet of the housing of the connector


21


attached to the concave portion


23


. The wire harness


29


to be connected to the connector


21


is passed through a not-shown through hole provided at the side portion of the bottom portion of the concave portion


23


and connected to the connector


21


. The connector


21


and the hole


25


are formed in correspondence with the connector


11


and the pillar-shaped projection


9


of the connector frame


7


, respectively.




Then, the explanation will be made as to the assembling operation of the connector coupling structure according to the embodiment.




First, as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the casing


1


is moved close to the plate


5


so that the connector


21


opposes to the connector


11


. Then, as shown in

FIG. 2

, the casing


1


is moved to the moving direction


31


so that the connector frame


7


is inserted from the end portion on the connector


11


side thereof into the groove portion


16


of the connector frame


3


. In accordance with the movement of the casing


1


, the connector frame


7


is inserted into the groove portion


16


toward the inner side thereof while being slid and guided along the tapered portions


17




a


of the opposite side walls


17


. When the connector frame is introduced to the parallel portions


17




b


of the inner side walls,


17


, the connector


11


and the connector


21


are naturally set in their positions along the. vertical direction in FIG.


1


. In the process of inserting the connector frame


7


into the groove portion


16


of the connector frame


3


, as shown in

FIG. 3

, the casing


1


is moved to the moving direction


31


while sliding the tip end of the pillar-shaped projection


9


of the connector frame


7


along the bottom wall


19


of the groove portion


16


, and when the hole


25


with the bottom wall reaches the position of the pillar-shaped projection


9


, the pillar-shaped projection


9


is inserted into the hole


25


with the bottom. Thus, the connector


11


and the connector


21


are placed at the position capable of being coupled to each other. The connector


21


is also adjusted in its position since the abutment face


18


of the connector frame


3


abuts against the connector frame


7


. In such a positional situation, as shown in

FIG. 4

, the bolt


8


is inserted into the hole


27


and screwed into and fastened by the nut


14


buried in the pillar-shaped projection


9


, whereby the casing


1


moves to such a direction that the connector frame


3


approaches the connector frame


7


. Thus, the connector


21


and the connector


11


approach to each other and are coupled, whereby the attachment of the casing


1


to the plate


5


is completed.




In this manner, the connector


21


is introduced to the position to be fit with the connector


11


and corrected in its position by means of the tapered portions


17




a


, the parallel portions


17




b


and the bottom wall


19


of the side walls


17


formed at the connector frame


3


. Further, the connector


11


and the connector


21


are surely adjusted in their positions by means of the pillar-shaped projection


9


and the hole


25


with the bottom wall. Furthermore, the connectors can be coupled and the assembling of the casing


1


with the plate


5


can be completed by fastening the bolt


8


. Thus, it becomes possible to quickly perform the positional alignment operation of the widths of the fitting-portions of both the connectors and the coupling operation of both the connectors, so that the workability can be improved in the operations such as the assembling of the parts of the vehicle at which the connectors are mounted to the vehicle body. Further, it becomes possible to prevent the deformation of the connector housing and the damage of the terminals within the connector housing caused by the deviation between the widths of the fitting portions of both the connectors.




The second embodiment will be explained with reference to

FIGS. 5

to


11


.

FIG. 5

is a perspective view of a connector frame.

FIG. 6A

is a perspective view of a vehicle body side panel and a console box casing.

FIG. 6B

is a perspective view showing only a connector frame portion of the casing side viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow B shown in FIG.


6


A.

FIG. 7A

shows a bolt and

FIG. 7B

shows the connector frame in which a nut is buried.

FIGS. 8

to


10


are diagrams showing the assembling operation of the casing to the vehicle body side panel and the connector coupling operation.

FIG. 11

is a perspective view of the vehicle body side panel.




This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the following points. That is, as shown in

FIG. 5

, a connector frame


37


having elastic projections


35


and a pillar-shaped projection


34


of a cylinder shape at which tongue shaped pieces


33


are formed is employed in place of the connector frame


7


of the first embodiment, whereby as shown in

FIG. 6A

, the tongue shaped pieces


33


are provisionally engaged with an engagement hole


41


of a vehicle body side panel


39


thereby to loosely and provisionally engage the connector frame


37


with the vehicle body side panel


39


. The frame


37


is provided with a convex portion


42


at the position where the connector


11


is placed, and the sliding faces


43


at the both sides of the convex portion


42


contact with and slide along the parallel portions


17




b


of the connector frame


3


. Further, in place of the bolt


8


of the first embodiment, as shown in

FIG. 7

, a volt


46


having a thread portion


45


provided at a portion of a shaft portion


44


thereof is provided and a nut


47


with a particular thickness is buried in the pillar-shaped projection


34


. Since other configuration of this embodiment is same as the first embodiment, such like parts corresponding to those of the first embodiment are marked with the same references and therefor need not be described




As shown in

FIG. 5

, the connector frame


37


is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape and the pair of tongue shaped pieces


33


supported at the center portion of the pillar-shaped projection


34


of a cylinder shape are formed symmetrically and integrally with the projection. The pair of elastic projections


35


are integrally formed at the corresponding positions of the side faces of the long sides of the connector frame


37


. As shown in

FIGS. 8

to


10


, the tongue shaped pieces


33


pass through holes


48


formed at the connector frame


37


and are inserted into a hollow portion


49


formed at the portion corresponding to the pillar-shaped projection


34


of the rear face of the connector frame


37


. Each of the tip end portions


51


of the tongue shaped pieces


33


is formed so as to be inclined toward the center axis of the pillar-shaped projection


34


so that a gap G


1


between the tip ends of the tongue shaped pieces


33


becomes smaller than the diameter D


1


of the shaft portion


44


of the bolt


46


shown in FIG.


7


. As shown in

FIGS. 8

to


10


, each of the tongue shaped pieces


33


is provided at its center portion with an engagement portion


53


expanded outward. A gap G


2


between the installation face


54


of the pillar-shaped projection


34


of the connector frame


37


and the end portion


55


of the engagement portion


53


is set to be larger than the thickness of the vehicle body side panel


39


. As shown in

FIG. 5

, each of the elastic projections


35


is inclined toward the installation face side of the pillar-shaped projection


34


from the side face-of the long side of the connector frame


37


. As shown in

FIG. 11

, the vehicle body side panel


39


is provided with a circular engagement hole


41


which size is almost same as that of the tip face of the pillar-shaped projection


34


.




As shown in

FIG. 7A

, the bolt


46


has the thread portion


45


corresponding to the nut


47


at a portion slightly below the center portion of the shaft portion


44


, and the shaft diameter of the portion of the shaft portion


44


other than the thread portion


45


is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the minimum hole of the nut


47


. The thread portion


45


is formed at such a position that, as shown in

FIG. 8

, in a state where the connector


11


and the connector


21


are adjusted in their positions to each other and the tip portion of the connector


11


is slightly coupled with the tip portion of the connector


21


, when the bolt


46


is inserted into the through hole


12


of the pillar-shaped projection


34


from a hole


27


and the head portion


52


of the bolt


46


contacts with the connector frame


3


, the thread portion


45


contacts with the nut


47


to rotate the bolt


46


thereby to fasten the bolt by the nut. Further, the thread portion


45


of the bolt


46


is formed and the nut


47


is buried in such a positional relation that, when the bolt


46


is fastened and the thread portion-


45


disengages from the nut


47


, the tip end portion


47


of the bolt


46


is inserted between the tip end portions


51


of the two tongue shaped pieces


33


. Further, the thread portion


45


and the nut


47


are formed to have such thickness that the sum of the length L


1


of the thread portion


45


and the thickness of the nut


47


, that is, the length L


2


of the thread portion of the nut


47


shown in

FIG. 7

is substantially same as the coupled length L


3


of the connector


11


and the connector


21


shown in FIG.


8


. In this embodiment, each of the length L


1


of the thread portion


45


and the length L


2


of the thread portion of the nut


47


is set to be substantially half of the length L


3


.




According to such a configuration, when the pillar-shaped projection


34


is inserted into the engagement hole


41


of the vehicle body side panel


39


to press the connector frame


37


, the engagement portions


53


of the tongue shaped pieces


33


pass the edge portions of the engagement hole


41


and the vehicle body side panel


39


is placed in such a state that it is sandwiched between the end portions


55


of the engagement portions


53


and the installation face


54


of the connector frame


37


, as shown in FIG.


8


. At this time, the connector frame


37


is biased to the direction away from the vehicle body side panel


39


due to the action of the elastic projection


35


. As a result, the connector frame


37


is provisionally engaged with the vehicle body side panel


39


with a clearance G


3


as a play therebetween. Like the first embodiment, the connector frame


37


is inserted into the groove portion


16


of the connector frame


3


to set the positions of the connector


11


and the connector


21


, and then the bolt


46


is rotated in a state where the bolt


46


is inserted into the hole


27


and the through hole


12


to contact the head portion


52


of the bolt


46


to the connector frame


3


, thereby to engage the thread portion


45


with the nut


47


. When the bolt


46


is fastened, the connector


11


and the connector


21


approach to each other and are coupled as shown in FIG.


9


.




Thereafter, as shown in

FIG. 10

, when the thread portion


45


of the bolt


46


disengages from the nut


47


, the mutual approaching process of the connector


11


and the connector


21


stops and so the mutual coupling of the connectors can be performed without fastening them excessively. In this case, the tip portion of the shaft portion


44


of the bolt


46


is inserted between the tip end portions


51


of the two tongue shaped pieces


33


to expand the distance between the tip end portions


51


. Thus, the connector frame


37


is fixed to the vehicle body side panel


39


by means of the tongue shaped pieces


33


and the elastic projection


35


, whereby the assembling operation of the casing


1


to the vehicle body side panel


39


can be completed.




In this manner, since the excessive fastening of the bolt can be prevented, the breakage of the connector housing and the terminals within the connector housing due to the application of unnecessary load to the connector and the connector terminals can be prevented. That is, the workability can be improved in the operations such as the assembling of the parts of the vehicle at which the connectors are mounted to the vehicle body.




In this embodiment, although the pillar shaped projection is provided with the pair of tongue shaped pieces


33


, the pillar shaped projection may be provided with three or more tongue shaped pieces


33


.




As has been described heretofore, according to the invention, the workability can be improved in the operation of assembling the parts at which the connectors are mounted.




Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, various changes and. modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein. Such changes and modifications as are obvious are deemed to come within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention as defined in the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A connector coupling structure comprising:a first connector frame including: a fitting groove, a first end portion thereof being opened, opposing side walls thereof having a first width at a second end portion thereof and being wider toward the first end portion, and. bottom face thereof being slanted so as to be deeper at the first end portion; a first fitting hole formed on the bottom face of the first end portion of the fitting groove, the first fitting hole extending in a direction perpendicular to the fitting groove, the first fitting hole having a bottom; a first connector provided in the first fitting hole; and a second fitting hole formed on the bottom face of an intermediate portion of the fitting groove, the second fitting hole extending parallel with the first fitting hole; and a second connector frame including: a base plate having a width substantially identical with the first width of the fitting groove; a second connector provided on a first face of the base plate; and a fitting projection provided on the first face of the base plate, the longitudinal dimension thereof being longer than a longitudinal dimension of the second connector, the second connector frame inserted into the fitting groove from the opened first end portion thereof, slid along the fitting groove while the tip end of the fitting projection is abutted against the bottom face of the fitting groove to respectively fit the second connector and the fitting projection with the first fitting hole and the second fitting hole in order to couple the second connector with the first connector.
  • 2. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein the second end portion of the fitting groove is closed wall face so that the second connector and the fitting projection respectively faces to the first fitting hole and the second fitting hole when the side face of the base plate is abutted against the closed wall face.
  • 3. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first connector frame includes a bolt inserted from an opening formed on the bottom of the second fitting hole;wherein the second connector frame includes a through hole piercing the fitting projection into which the bolt is inserted, and a nut buried in the fitting projection coaxially with the through hole, with which the bolt is fitted; and wherein the tightening operation of the bolt and the nut moves the second connector toward the first connector.
  • 4. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein the bolt includes a thread portion positioned so as to disengage from the nut when the first connector and the second connector are completely coupled after the tightening operation.
  • 5. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein a thread portion is formed such that the coupling length of the first connector and the second connector is substantially the same as an additional length of a length of the thread portion and a thickness of the nut.
  • 6. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein the fitting projection. includes an engagement member formed on an circumferential face thereof;wherein the fitting projection is inserted into an opening formed on a plate member, to which the second connector frame is fixed, such that the plate member is provisionally engaged between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate; wherein an interval between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate is wider than the thickness of the plate member; and wherein the fitting projection includes elastic pieces extending from a base end portion thereof through the base plate, an interval of which is narrower than the diameter of the bolt so that the elastic pieces are spread out by the insertion of the bolt, thereby the plate member is movable between the engagement member and the first face of the base plate according to the insertion degree of the bolt.
  • 7. The connector coupling structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein a corner portion of the tip end of the fitting projection is tapered.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
11-114822 Apr 1999 JP
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number Name Date Kind
5382179 Noschese Jan 1995
5586901 Muta Dec 1996
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
8-310316 Nov 1996 JP
9-320697 Dec 1997 JP