Referring to
The connector 11 and the mating connector 51 are fitted and connected to each other by rotating the lever 21 rotatably mounted to the housing 31. The lever 21 is rotatably held by the housing 31 between a first position (initial position illustrated in
The housing 31 is made of a synthetic resin material and has a horizontally-long rectangular block-like shape as a whole. The housing 31 is provided with a plurality of contact receiving portions 31f penetrating therethrough in the fitting direction A and the removing direction B. In the contact receiving portions 31f, the contacts, such as socket contacts, are received in one-to-one correspondence.
The housing 31 includes an upper wall 31a, a lower wall 31b, a pair of left and right side walls 31c and 31d, and a top plate portion 33 spaced from the upper wall 31a in parallel thereto. Among spaces surrounded by these walls, a horizontally-long slit-like space defined between the upper wall 31a and the top plate portion 33 parallel to the upper wall 31a serves as a lever receiving portion 33a adapted to receive the lever 21.
The mating connector 51 includes a mating housing 52 made of a synthetic resin material and having a long frame-like shape as a whole, and a plurality of mating contacts 55, such as pin contacts, held by the mating housing 52.
The mating housing 52 includes a bottom plate portion 52a, a top plate portion 52b parallel to the bottom plate portion 52a, a pair of side plate portions 52c and 52d connecting the bottom plate portion 52a and the top plate portion 52b, and a rear plate portion 52e connected to the bottom plate portion 52a and the top plate portion 52b forward in the fitting direction A.
An area surrounded by the bottom plate portion 52a, the top plate portion 52b, the side plate portions 52c and 52d, and the rear plate portion 52e serves as a mating fitting portion 53 to be fitted over the connector 11. In the mating fitting portion 53, the mating contacts 55 are inserted from the outside of the rear plate portion 52e. In the mating fitting portion 53, mating contacting portions 55a of the mating contacts 55 are located.
Each of the mating contacting portions 55a is brought into contact with a contacting portion of the contact when the connector 11 and the mating connector 51 are fitted to each other. Outside the rear plate portion 52e of the mating housing 52, mating terminal portions 55b of the mating contacts 55 are extended so as to be connected to a circuit of the printed wiring board.
The lever 21 is made of a synthetic resin material and includes a main body 23 having a generally flat shape, and a cantilevered locking member 25 elastically deformable in a thickness direction of the lever 21, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to a plate surface or plane of the lever 21 so as to lock the lever 21 at the second position.
Referring to
The main body 23 is provided with a tooth-like cam portion 28 formed at the other end and a circular bearing hole 23d formed near the cam portion 28. The bearing hole 23d is fitted over a support shaft 34 (see
In the state where the lever 21 is coupled to the housing 31, the lever 21 is located along one wall (herein, the upper wall 31a) of the housing 31. The cam portion 28 is received in the lever receiving portion 33a in the state that it is interposed between the upper wall 31a and the top plate portion 33 with a small clearance.
The cam portion 28 has a lower surface provided with a rotation guide groove 29. A mating cam portion 57 (see
The locking member 25 of the lever 21 is integrally formed with the one end of the main body 23 and extends along the plate surface of the lever 21. The locking member 25 has a spring portion 25a formed at the center in a longitudinal direction, an operating portion 25c formed at a free end of the locking member 25, and a protruding locking portion 25e formed at a first portion of the spring portion 25a.
As illustrated in
The recess 27 is formed so that, in the displacement direction of the locking member 25, a distance between the first bottom portion 25f and the second bottom portion 27a is greater on the side of the spring portion 25a provided with the locking portion 25e than on the side provided with the operating portion 25c.
The operating portion 25c passes through the opening of the finger placing portion 23b in order to operate the locking member 25 for unlocking a locked state. The locking portion 25e serves to lock the lever 21 to the mating housing 52 at the second position.
Referring to
Thus, a lower part of the locking member 25 is covered by the plate-like portion via the recess 27. Therefore, even if the lever operating portion 23a is pressed and operated, the lever operating portion 23a is prevented from being deformed. It is therefore possible to reliably transmit an operating force. In particular, in case where the connector 11 has a large number of contacts and the lever 21 is therefore increased in size, it is possible to improve flapping strength.
In order to assemble the connector 11, the lever 21 is inserted into the lever receiving portion 33a and the bearing hole 23d is engaged with the support shaft 34. As a consequence, the lever 21 is rotatably held by the housing 31.
The connector 11 is fitted to the mating connector 51 in the following manner. At first, in the state where the lever 21 is pulled out, the connector 11 is inserted into the mating fitting portion 53. The lever 21 is located at the first position so that a rotation guide wall 29a adjacent to the cam portion 28 is brought into contact with a front surface 57c of the mating cam portion 57 in the removing direction B.
Next, by pressing the lever operating portion 23 of the lever 21, the lever 21 is rotated from the first position in
When the lever 21 approaches the second position, the locking portion 25e of the locking member 25 is brought into contact with a claw portion 52f (see
In order to remove the connector 11 from the fitted state with the mating connector 51, an operator places his finger on the finger placing portion 23b and presses the operating portion 25c of the locking member 25 downward by a fingertip of his finger to unlock the locked state. Then, the lever operating portion 23a is pulled to rotate the lever 21 in a clockwise direction. As a consequence, following the rotation of the lever 21, the cam portion 28 and the mating cam portion 57 interact with each other so that the connector 11 is separated from the mating connector 51. The lever 21 reaches the first position illustrated in
As described above, the lever 21 has a plate-like shape and is therefore reduced in thickness. The locking member 25 is formed along the plate surface of the lever 21 and elastically deformed in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface. Therefore, without increasing the thickness of the lever 21, an area of the operating portion 25c can be widened so that operability of the unlocking operation can be assured.
At the one end of the lever 21, the finger placing portion 23b and the lever operating portion 23a are disposed adjacent to each other. Therefore, it is possible to simply perform the unlocking operation by a single hand.
The above-mentioned connector is applicable to a part required to suppress vibration or vibration noise due to the nature of a mounting area, a vehicle wire harness attached to an unseen or invisible portion, and so on.
A second exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the housing has a lever receiving potion which is a slit-like space, and the lever is received in the lever receiving portion.
A third exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the housing has a plurality of contact receiving portions, and the contact receiving portions receives a plurality of conductive contacts in one-to-one correspondence.
A fourth exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the housing comprises an upper wall, a lower wall, a pair of side walls, and a top plate portion faced to and spaced from the upper wall, wherein the lever receiving portion is defined between the upper wall and the top plate portion.
A fifth exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the main body has one end provided with a finger placing portion, the spring portion has a lever operating portion at the free end, and the finger placing portion and the lever operating portion are positioned adjacent to each other.
A sixth exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the main body has a cam portion formed at the other end and a circular bearing hole formed near the cam portion, the housing comprises a support shaft fitted in the bearing hole, and the lever is rotatable around the support shaft.
A seventh exemplary embodiment of the invention is a connector, wherein the cam portion has a rotation guide groove determining the first and the second positions.
An exemplary advantage according to this invention is that the lower part of the locking member is covered by the plate-like portion via the recess. Therefore, even if the lever operating portion is pressed and operated, the lever operating portion is prevented from being deformed. It is therefore possible to reliably transmit the operating force. In particular, in case where the connector has a large number of contacts and the lever is therefore increased in size, it is possible to improve flapping strength.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2006-246900 | Sep 2006 | JP | national |