The present invention relates to a connector lock structure.
A connector lock structure that is able to maintain a fitted state between a connector housing and a counterpart connector housing has been know (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
As shown in
End portions 513a, 513b of the lock arm 513 are integrally connected to a front end and a rear end of a top portion 517 of the second connector housing 511 respectively, so as to form a double-sided beam shape. Therefore, the lock arm 513 forms a bridge shape on the top portion 517 except for both end portions 513a, 513b via a gap (flexible space) 519. Therefore, the entire lock arm 513 has elasticity. The entire lock arm 513 undergoes bending deformation in a compression direction when receiving an external force, and is restored to the original bridge form by a repulsive force of the lock arm 513 when the external force is removed. The lock arm 513 is provided with a lock claw 515 at a central portion thereof.
When unlocking the first connector housing 501 and the second connector housing 511 configured as described above, a head of the lock claw 515 is pushed down by strong pressing with a finger pulp or using a jig such as a pin. As a result, the lock arm 513 is deformed downward, the lock claw 515 is positioned at a level disengaged from the locking with the lock claw locking hole 505, and further, the second connector housing 511 is separated from the first connector housing 501. As a result, the first connector housing 501 and the second connector housing 511 can be unlocked easily and quickly.
Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2010-170967
However, in the above-described connector lock structure, in the fitted state between the first connector housing 501 and the second connector housing 511, a rear side of the lock arm 513 and the rear end portion 513b are exposed from the first connector housing 501. Therefore, when an external force is applied to the rear side of the lock arm 513, the lock arm 513 may be bent, the engagement between the lock claw 515 and the lock claw locking hole 505 may be released, and the fitted state may be impaired. The rear end portion 513b may be plastically deformed.
Also, when the rigidity of the rear end portion 513b is increased to make it difficult to bend due to an external force or to be plastically deformed, the lock arm 513 is less likely to be bent. Therefore, a force required when the lock arm 513 is fitted with the first connector housing 501 or when an unlocking operation is performed, the workability is deteriorated. When a bridge-shaped hood for preventing incorrect operation so as to cover the rear side of the lock arm 513 and the rear end portion 513b is provided integrally with the second connector housing 511, the size of the second connector housing 511 is increased.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a compact connector lock structure that can ensure workability during connector fitting or an unlocking operation and protect the lock arm.
According to the embodiment, the connector lock structure includes:
a lock arm that extends along a fitting direction and is formed on a side wall of a connector housing, and maintains a fitted state by being elastically engaged with a counterpart connector housing;
a pair of flexible and deformable plate-shaped support walls that protrude rearward of the side wall to sandwich a rear portion of the lock arm therebetween;
a coupling portion that couples each of the plate-shaped support walls to the rear portion of the lock arm in a width direction; and
an upward protruding portion that protrudes upward than the coupling portion and is formed on each of the plate-shaped support walls.
Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in
The connector lock structure according to the present embodiment mainly includes a lock arm 5 formed on an upper wall (side wall) 4 of the connector housing 1, a pair of flexible and deformable plate-shaped support walls 11, 11 protruding rearward of the upper wall 4, coupling portions 13 that respectively couple the plate-shaped support wall 11 to a rear portion 9 of the lock arm 5 in a width direction (left-right direction in
As illustrated in
A lock portion 26 protruding into the connector fitting portion 23 is provided on a top wall 25 of the connector fitting portion 23. A lock claw (locking protrusion) 6 of the lock arm 5, which will be described later, is locked to the lock portion 26.
As illustrated in
A cantilever-shaped lance 17 for retaining the female terminal 31 is provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 3, and the female terminal 31 inserted from a rear end opening portion 3b of the connector housing 1 is held by the lance 17.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Therefore, the entire lock arm 5 has elasticity. When receiving an operation force F, the lock arm 5 is bent and deformed in a pressing direction (downward in
The pair of flexible and deformable plate-shaped support walls 11, 11 according to the present embodiment protrude upward and are provided in parallel on a rear side of the upper wall 4 so as to sandwich the rear portion 9 of the lock arm 5 therebetween from the width direction. The plate-shaped support wall 11 is bent and deformed in the width direction (plate thickness direction), while the plate thickness and a length in the fitting direction are appropriately set so as to have a predetermined rigidity in a protruding direction (plate surface direction). Also, the protruding direction is a direction perpendicular to the width direction and the fitting direction.
An upper end portion of the plate-shaped support wall 11 serves as the upward protruding portion 12 that protrudes upward than the coupling portion 13 coupled to the lock arm 5. The upward protruding portion 12 protrudes upward than the operation portion 8 of the lock arm 5. The upward protruding portion 12 is not limited to one formed by causing the entire upper end portion of the plate-shaped support wall 11 to protrude upward as in the present embodiment, and may be formed by causing a portion of the upper end portion of the plate-shaped support wall 11 upward.
As illustrated in
Further, in the coupling portion 13 of the present invention, a coupling length extending along the fitting direction, which is a longitudinal direction of the lock arm 5 and the plate-shaped support wall 11, is shortened by a slit 15 provided on a front side of the coupling portion 13. That is, a distance L from the operation portion 8, to which the operation force F of pressing the intermediate portion of the lock arm 5 downward is applied, to the coupling portion 13 is increased by an amount corresponding to the slit 15. Therefore, a force, which causes the plate-shaped support walls 11 to bend in the width direction via the coupling portions 13 when the lock arm 5 itself is bent downward, is increased by the action of leverage.
Next, the operation of the above-described configurations will be described.
According to the connector lock structure of the present embodiment, the connector housing 1 is in a state in which the rear side of the lock arm 5 and the rear side of the fitting portion 2 are exposed from the connector fitting portion 23 of the counterpart connector housing 21 in the fitted state between the connector housing 1 and the counterpart connector housing 21 as illustrated in
Therefore, the upward protruding portion 12 of the compact plate-shaped support wall 11 prevents the fact that the engagement with the counterpart connector housing 21 is released and the fitted state is impaired due to the bending of the lock arm 5 itself when the external force P is applied to the lock arm 5 of the connector housing 1. Further, the upward protruding portion 12 of the plate-shaped support wall 11 also prevents plastic deformation of the lock arm 5 due to the external force P. That is, the connector housing 1 does not increase in size, for example, as in a case where a bridge-shaped hood for preventing incorrect operation that covers the rear side of the lock arm 5 and the rear portion 9 is provided integrally with the connector housing 1.
On the other hand, when unlocking is performed, as shown in
Further, according to the connector lock structure of the present embodiment, the distance L from the operation portion 8 to the coupling portion 13 when the intermediate portion of the lock arm 5 is pushed downward is increased by an amount corresponding to the slit 15. As shown in
Further, according to the connector lock structure of the present embodiment, the operation force F of pressing the intermediate portion of the lock arm 5 downward is intensively applied to the lock arm 5 via the operation portion 8 including the projecting portion. Therefore, the action of the leverage, which increases the force causing the plate-shaped support wall 11 to bend when the distance L from the operation portion 8 to the coupling portion 13 is increased, is applied reliably.
Therefore, according to the connector lock structure of the above embodiment, it is possible to provide a compact connector lock structure that can ensure workability during the connector fitting or the unlocking operation and protect the lock arm 5.
Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be appropriately modified, improved or the like. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement position or the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are optional and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.
The features of the connector lock structure according to the present invention will be briefly summarized in the following [1] to [3].
[1] A connector lock structure including:
a connector housing (1) that is able to be fitted to a counterpart connector housing (21);
a lock arm (5) that extends along a fitting direction and is formed on a side wall (upper wall 4) of the connector housing (1), and maintains a fitted state by being elastically engaged with the counterpart connector housing (21);
a pair of flexible and deformable plate-shaped support walls (11, 11) that protrude rearward of the side wall to sandwich a rear portion (9) of the lock arm (5) therebetween;
a coupling portion (13) that couples each of the plate-shaped support walls to the rear portion of the lock arm in a width direction of the connector housing (1) perpendicular to the fitting direction; and
an upward protruding portion (12) that protrudes upward than the coupling portion and is formed on each of the plate-shaped support walls.
According to the connector lock structure having a configuration of the above (1), when an undesired external force directed downward from above is applied to the lock arm, for example, in a case where an object hits the lock arm, the external force is received by the upward protruding portion of the plate-shaped support wall. Here, the plate-shaped support wall undergoes bending deformation in the width direction (plate thickness direction), but the external force applied to the upward protruding portion can be received since the plate-shaped support wall has a rigidity in the protruding direction (plate surface direction). Therefore, bending of the lock arm itself due to the external force is prevented (inhibited). Therefore, the upward protruding portion of the compact plate-shaped support wall prevents the fact that the engagement with the counterpart connector housing is released and the fitted state is impaired due to the bending of the lock arm itself when the external force is applied to the lock arm of the connector housing. Further, the upward protruding portion of the plate-shaped support wall also prevents plastic deformation of the lock arm due to the external force.
On the other hand, in the case of the connector fitting or performing unlocking, an intermediate portion of the lock arm is pressed downward, so that the lock arm itself can be bent downward and the plate-shaped support wall can be bent in the width direction via the coupling portion. Therefore, the force (operation force) required during the connector fitting or the unlocking operation is prevented (inhibited) from increasing. Therefore, workability during the connector fitting or the unlocking operation can be ensured.
[2] The connector lock structure according to the above [1], in which a coupling length of the coupling portion along the fitting direction is reduced due to a slit (15) provided on a front side of the coupling portion (13).
According to the connector lock structure having a configuration of the above (2), the distance from the operation portion to the coupling portion when the intermediate portion of the lock arm is pushed downward is increased by an amount corresponding to the slit. Therefore, a force, which causes the plate-shaped support walls to bend in the width direction via the coupling portions when the lock arm itself is bent downward, can be increased by the action of leverage. Therefore, the force (operation force) required during the unlocking operation can be further reduced.
[3] The connector lock structure according to the above [2], in which an intermediate portion of the lock arm (5) includes:
a locking protrusion (lock claw 6) to be locked to a lock portion (26) of the counterpart connector housing (21); and
an operation portion (8) including a projecting portion protruding upward between the locking protrusion and the coupling portion (13).
According to the connector lock structure having a configuration of the above (3), the operation force of pressing the intermediate portion of the lock arm downward is intensively applied to the lock arm via the operation portion including the projecting portion. Therefore, the action of the leverage, which increases the force causing the plate-shaped support wall to bend when the distance from the operation portion to the coupling portion is increased, is applied reliably.
According to the connector lock structure of the present invention, it is possible to provide a compact connector lock structure that can ensure workability during the connector fitting or the unlocking operation and protect the lock arm.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2020-039750 | Mar 2020 | JP | national |
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-039750 filed on Mar. 9, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.