This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-177773 filed on Sep. 12, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector including a housing and a lock arm which extends from the housing and is engageable with a counterpart side connector.
2. Background Art
From the related art, a connector including a lock arm which is engageable with a counterpart side connector is suggested (for example, JP-A-2015-195126 and JP-A-2001-250636).
For example, a lock arm included in one of the connectors of the related art (hereinafter, referred to as “connector of the related art”) includes: an engaging arm which has a shape of a cantilever beam and has a locking hole for being engaged with a counterpart side connector in the vicinity of a free end; and a releasing arm which extends from an end portion on the free end side of the engaging arm.
The connector of the related art is fixed to the counterpart side connector by locking the locking hole of the lock arm to a locking piece of the counterpart side connector. Furthermore, the connector of the related art releases engagement of the locking hole and the locking piece by separating the engaging hole and the locking piece of the counterpart side connector from each other by operating the releasing arm and bending the engaging arm around a fixing end (for example, refer to JP-A-2015-195126).
In the connector of the related art, when an operator performs the above-described engagement releasing, the operator applies an external force to the releasing arm, and the engaging arm is bent (deformed) by the external force around the fixing end. In the connector having such a mechanism of engagement releasing, when a part having extremely small strength exists between an operation portion (a part to which the operator applies the force) of the releasing arm and the fixing end of the engaging arm, there is a possibility that the part is preferentially bent (deformed) and the engaging arm is not bent (deformed) as assumed. In this case, even when the external force to an extent that the engagement is released when the engaging arm is bent (deformed) as assumed is applied to the releasing arm, there is a possibility that the engagement is not released. That is, the operability when performing the engagement releasing may deteriorate.
In particular, in the connector of the related art, since a sectional area of the lock arm in the periphery of the locking hole is small, it is considered that the strength of the lock arm deteriorates in the periphery of the locking hole. However, in a case where the locking piece of the counterpart side connector is sufficiently small and the locking hole of the lock arm is also sufficiently small, practically, it is possible to ignore the above-described deterioration of strength. Meanwhile, as the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector increases, the size of the locking hole of the lock arm also increases, and there is a concern about the above-described deterioration of strength (or deterioration of operability of the engagement releasing).
The invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide a connector which can maintain operability of engagement releasing as much as possible even when the size of a locking piece of a counterpart side connector is large.
In order to achieve the above object, a connector according to the invention is characterized as following (1) and (2) below.
(1) A connector includes a housing and a lock arm that extends from the housing and is engageable with a counterpart connector. The lock arm includes a first arm that has a shape of a cantilever beam and has a locking hole for being engaged with the counterpart connector at a free end side of the first arm, and a second arm that extends from an end portion on the free end side of the first arm and is capable of releasing the engagement by bending the first arm around a fixing end of the first arm. The locking hole has a hole of which the size in a width direction orthogonal to an extending direction of the first arm becomes larger as a measurement position of the size of the hole gets closer to the free end from the fixing end.
(2) In the connector of (1), the lock arm is formed of a hydrolysis-resistant material.
According to the connector having the above-described configuration (1), the locking hole has the hole shape (hole width enlarging portion) of which the size in the width direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the first arm (engaging arm) increases at least at a part as approaching the free end from the fixing end of the first arm (engaging arm). Therefore, for example, when a part example, an end portion on the free end side) of the locking hole is a part having a hole width which corresponds to the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector, and the other part the hole width enlarging portion (that is, when the hole width decreases as being separated from the end portion on the free end side), compared to a case where the entire locking hole is the former (which has a hole width that corresponds to the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector), and it is possible to prevent deterioration of strength in the periphery of the locking hole as much as the sectional area of the first arm can be maintained.
Therefore, the connector having the above-described configuration can maintain operability of the engagement releasing as much as possible even when the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector is large.
Furthermore, the connector having the above-described configuration also has other effects. Specifically, according to the connector having the above-described configuration, flexibility of the first arm (engaging arm) by the hole width enlarging portion gradually changes depending on the place (that is, a stress is diffused when bending the first arm). Therefore, when performing the engagement releasing, concentration of stress is mitigated in the periphery or the like of the fixing end of the first arm (engaging arm), and further, according to the connector having the above-described configuration, when a widening degree (inclination angle) of the hole width of the hole width enlarging portion is adjusted, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the strength of the first arm (engaging arm). Therefore, when adjusting the widening degree (inclination angle) of the hole width in accordance with the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector, it is possible to maintain operability of the engagement releasing regardless of the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector.
According to the connector having the above-described configuration (2), the lock arm which is elastically deformed when performing the engagement and the engagement releasing is formed of a hydrolysis-resistant material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage of the lock arm which is particularly likely to be damaged (for example, breakage caused by the external force when performing the engagement releasing) due to deterioration caused by the hydrolysis of the configuration material. As a result, the connector having the configuration can prevent the damage of the lock arm even in a case of being used for a long period of time under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment compared to a case where the lock arm is not formed of the hydrolysis-resistant material.
In addition, the hydrolysis-resistant material which is used in the connector may be a material having excellent hydrolysis resistance, and a specific composition or the like is not particularly limited. For example, as the hydrolysis-resistant material, a composite material obtained by adding glass fibers to PBT can be used. However, PBT is a polyester resin, and depending on the use environment, the hydrolysis caused by the moisture in the environment and a hydroxyl group and an ester bond in a molecular framework of PBT, can be generated. Here, in the above-described composite material, it is preferable that PBT to which processing of improving the hydrolysis resistance is performed is used (for example, PBT-GF15). In addition, an example of processing of improving the hydrolysis resistance includes processing of substituting a hydroxyl radical (—OH) in a carboxyl end group (—COOH) which influences the hydrolysis of PBT for other atoms and molecules that show the hydrolysis resistance (for example, refer to JP-A-2006-104363 and JP-A-H8-208816).
According to the invention, it is possible to provide a connector which can maintain operability of engagement releasing even when the size of the locking piece of the counterpart side connector is large.
Above, the invention was briefly described. Furthermore, by thoroughly reading the aspects (hereinafter, referred to as “embodiments”) for realizing the invention which will be described hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings, specific contents of the invention will become more apparent.
Embodiments
Hereinafter, a connector according to an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in
The connector 1 (the housing 10 and the lock arm 20) is integrally molded by using a resin material made of a hydrolysis-resistant material. Specifically, by using a composite material (for example, PBT-GF15 or the like obtained by adding 15% by weight of glass fibers to PBT) obtained by adding glass fibers to PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), the connector 1 is molded to be integrated by injection molding or the like. The composite material is subjected to processing of improving the hydrolysis resistance with respect to PBT which is a base polymer. In addition, an example of processing of improving the hydrolysis resistance includes processing of substituting a hydroxyl radical (—OH) in a carboxyl end group (—COOH) which influences the hydrolysis resistance of PBT for other atoms and molecules that show the hydrolysis resistance. In addition, the hydrolysis-resistant material used in the connector 1 is not limited to the composite material, and other materials having hydrolysis resistance may be used.
Hereinafter, for convenience of the description, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The hood portion 12 defines an annular void 13 into which a tubular portion 31 (refer to
The hood portion 12 includes a guide groove 14 which is disposed corresponding to the guide rib 32 of the counterpart side connector 2 and extends in the fitting direction, and one pair of spaces 15 (refer to
As illustrated in
The releasing arm 24 includes one pair of linking arm portions 25 which extend to the rear side along the fitting direction from both end portions 23a in the width direction of the end portion including the free end 23, an operation portion 26 which links rear end portions of the pair of linking arm portions 25 to each other, and one pair of stoppers 27 which protrude to an outer surface of the pair of linking arm portion 25. Below the linking arm portion 25, a void for allowing displacement of the linking arm portion 25 is ensured.
In the engaging arm 22, a locking hole 28 (through hole) is provided. As will be described later, a locking surface 29 of the locking hole 28 locks a locking surface 35 of a lock projection 34 provided between the pair of guide ribs 33 on the upper surface of the tubular portion 31 of the counterpart side connector 2 in a state where the filling is completed (refer to
As illustrated in
An end face on the rear side of the hole width enlarging portion 28a is positioned slightly further on a rear end side than the center position in the fitting direction of the engaging arm 22. The end face (locking surface 29, refer to
When the tubular portion 31 of the counterpart side connector 2 is inserted into the void 13 of the connector 1 (that is, when the connector 1 and the counterpart side connector 2 are fitted to each other), in the middle of the fitting, the engaging arm 22 is elastically deformed to be bent in the upward direction (an arrow Z1 direction illustrated in
In addition, when the fitting between the connector 1 and the counterpart side connector 2 is completed, the position of the free end 23 returns to an initial position before the elastic deformation by a restoring force of the engaging arm 22. Accordingly, as illustrated in
As a result, a state where the fitting between the connector 1 and the counterpart side connector 2 is completed is maintained. In a state where the fitting is completed, by connecting the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodation portion 11 of the connector 1 and the terminal disposed on the inside of the tubular portion 31 of the counterpart side connector 2, the connector 1 and the counterpart side connector 2 are electrically connected to each other.
Meanwhile, as illustrated in
In addition, the pair of stoppers 27 provided in the pair of linking arm portions 25 can abut against one pair of interference portions 16 (refer to
In the connector 1 according to the embodiment of the above-described invention, at the part on the rear side of the locking hole 28 of the engaging arm 22, the hole width enlarging portion 28a having a substantially trapezoidal shape of which the hole width gradually increases toward the front end side from the rear end side is formed, and at the part on the front side of the locking hole 28, the constant hole width portion 28b having a substantially constant rectangular shape of which the hole width is the width D1 is formed. Therefore, for example, compared to a case where the locking hole 28 has a substantially constant rectangular shape having the width D1 across the entire fitting direction, it is possible to prevent deterioration of strength of the periphery of the locking hole 28 in the engaging arm 22.
Furthermore, flexibility of the engaging arm 22 gradually changes depending on the place by the hole width enlarging portion 28a (that is, the stress is diffused when bending the engaging arm 22). Therefore, when performing the engagement releasing, concentration of stress is mitigated in the periphery or the like of the fixing end 21 of the engaging arm 22.
Furthermore, when adjusting a widening degree (inclination angle θ, refer to
According to the connector 1, the lock arm 20 which is elastically deformed when performing the engagement (when performing the fitting) and the engagement releasing is formed of a hydrolysis-resistant material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage of the lock arm 20 which is particularly likely to be damaged due to deterioration caused by the hydrolysis of the configuration material. As a result, in the connector 1, it is possible to prevent the damage of the lock arm 20 even in a case of being used for a long period of time under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment compared to a case where the lock arm 20 is not formed of the hydrolysis-resistant material.
<Other Aspects>
The invention is not limited to each of the embodiments, various modification examples can be employed within a range of the invention. For example, the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately deformed or improved. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the material, the shape, the dimension, the number, or the disposition location of each configuration elements are arbitrary as long as the invention can be achieved, and are not particularly limited.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the hole width enlarging portion 28a having a substantially trapezoidal shape is formed at the part on the rear side of the locking hole 28 of the engaging arm 22, and the constant hole width portion 28b having a substantially rectangular shape is formed at the part on the front side of the locking hole 28. However, the hole width enlarging portion 28a having a substantially trapezoidal shape of which the hole width gradually increases toward the front end side from the rear end side may be formed across the entire region in the fitting direction of the locking hole 28.
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the connector 1 (the housing 10 and the lock arm 20) is integrally molded by using a resin material formed of the hydrolysis-resistant material. However, for example, in an aspect in which the lock arm 20 molded to be separately and independently from the housing 10 is attached (bonded) to the housing 10, only the lock arm 20 which is elastically deformed when performing the engagement (when performing the fitting) and the engagement releasing may be molded by using the hydrolysis-resistant material, and the housing 10 may be molded by using polyester such as PBT.
Here, characteristics of the connector of the above-described embodiment according to the present invention are respectively briefly summarized and listed in the following (1) and (2).
(1) A connector (1) including: a housing (10); and a lock arm (20) which extends from the housing (10) and is engageable with a counterpart side connector (2), in which the lock arm (20) includes a first arm (22) which has a shape of a cantilever beam and has a locking hole (28) for being engaged with the counterpart side connector (2) in the vicinity of a free end (23), and a second arm (24) which extends from an end portion on the free end side of the first arm (22) and is capable of releasing the engagement by bending the first arm (22) around a fixing end (21) of the first arm (22), and the locking hole (28) has a hole shape (28a) of which the size in a width direction orthogonal to an extending direction of the first arm (22) increases at least at a part as approaching the free end (23) from the fixing end (21).
(2) The connector according to the above-described (1) in which the lock arm (20) is formed of a hydrolysis-resistant material.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-177773 | Sep 2016 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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102694295 | Sep 2012 | CN |
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2001-250636 | Sep 2001 | JP |
2012-195285 | Oct 2012 | JP |
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Entry |
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Chinese Office Action for the related Chinese Patent Application No. 201710819137.3 dated Dec. 5, 2018. |
Japanese Office Action for the related Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-177773 dated Oct. 23, 2018. |
Japanese Office Action for the related Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-177773 dated Feb. 12, 2019. |
Chinese Office Action for the related Chinese Patent Application No. 201710819137.3 dated Apr. 16, 2019. |
Japanese Reconsideration Report by Examiner before Appeal for the related Japanese patent application No. 2016-177773 dated Jun. 12, 2019. |
Japanese Notice of Terminaton of Reconsideration by Examiners before Appeal Proceedings for the related Japanese patent application No. 2016-177773 dated Jun. 14, 2019. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180076566 A1 | Mar 2018 | US |