The invention relates to the field of connectors for signal transfer or providing power. More specifically, the invention relates to connectors for signal transfer or providing power comprising a latch to lock said connectors on and release said connectors from a counterpart, such as a mating connector or a panel.
In order to prevent undesired removal of a connector fitted with a mating connector, a connector normally has engagement portions which engage with other engagement portions of the mating connector after the connector is fitted with the mating connector. Typical engagement portions are locking structures such as locking hooks, while ones of a mating connector are slits or grooves with which the locking hooks can engage. Conventionally, a connector with locking structures comprises a control mechanism for controlling the above-mentioned engagement, especially, the positions of the locking structures. The conventional control mechanism includes two buttons provided on opposite sides of the connector in a lateral direction. When the buttons are pinched and are pushed inwardly by two fingers of a user, the locking structures do not work for a mating connector so that the engagement is released if it is established before or that the connector can be easily fitted with the mating connector when being connected to the mating connector.
However, in some situations insufficient space is available to provide buttons on opposite sides of the connector and/or access space to operate these buttons is limited. In such a situation, it is preferred to have a connector that can engage the connector with or to release the connector from a mating connector or other counterpart by operating only a single button.
On the other hand, multiple locking structures may be desired to establish optimal engagement between the connector and the mating connector or other counterpart.
It is an object of the invention to provide a connector with improved latching capabilities.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a connector that can be connected or released in situations of limited space for providing an operating button and/or accessing an operating button.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a connector comprising a latch that can be operated by a single operating button, while the latch comprises multiple locking structures.
The invention provides a connector comprising a connector housing and a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and second beam are connected with each other. The first beam comprises a first locking structure and the second beam comprises a second locking structure capable of locking said connector onto a counterpart in a locking position of said first and second locking structure. The first beam comprises a force application element and the second beam and the connector housing are arranged to interact with each other in order to move said second locking structure from said locking position to a release position on application of a force on said force application element.
By structuring the latch and connector housing such that a force applied to the first beam can be suitably transferred to the second beam such that this second beam moves in the appropriate direction for either locking the connector onto or releasing the connector from a counterpart, the first and second beam can be provided with locking structures that can be moved by operating only a single button coupled to the first beam. Consequently, a connector is provided that only requires little (handling) space to lock the connector onto or release the connector from a counterpart, while the latch responsible for locking has at least two locking structures.
It should be appreciated that the connector may either be an electrical or an optical connector and may be either a cable connector or a board connector.
The latch preferably is a monolithic latch.
Further, it should be appreciated that the latch may comprise a force application element for each beam and that application of a force on only one of said force application elements triggers movement of both said first and second locking structure. Such an embodiment is defined in claim 2.
The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 3 is advantageous in that the rotation mechanism of the latch provides an efficient way of transferring the force applied on the first beam to the second beam (or vice versa) in order to release the second locking structure.
The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 4 provides the advantage that the outwardly extending locking hooks lock the connector onto the counterpart when no force is applied on the force application element and the resilient nature of the latch is used to advantage when a force is applied to release the locking hooks from the counterpart. Moreover, the embodiment of claim 4 provides space between the beams of the latch for other components of the connector, such as keying means.
The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 5 provides the advantage that the movement of the latch or portions thereof can be controlled during application of a force on the force application element of the first beam.
The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 6 provides a suitable and simple way to operate the latch. It should however be appreciated that one or more intermediate elements may be present between the force application element of the latch and the user to operate the latch.
The embodiment of the invention of claim 7 defines an embodiment wherein only limited space is available to provide or handle a release button and wherein, accordingly, the invention can be advantageously applied.
The invention further provides a cable connector comprising a connector housing and a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and second beam are connected with each other via a connection element. The first beam comprises a first locking hook and the second beam comprises a second locking hook capable of locking said connector onto a counterpart in a locking position of said first and second locking hook. The first locking hook and second locking hook extend in a direction away from each other. The first beam comprises a force application element and the connector housing comprises a ridge such that, on application of a force on said force application element, said latch rotates around said ridge by interaction with said second beam and said second locking hook moves from said locking position to a release position.
By providing a ridge in the connector housing such that a force applied to the first beam can be suitably transferred to the second beam such that this second beam moves in the appropriate direction for either locking or releasing the connector from a counterpart, the first and second beam can be provided with locking hooks that can be moved by operating only a single button coupled to only the first beam. Consequently, a connector is provided that only requires little (handling) space to lock the connector onto or release the connector from a counterpart, while the latch responsible for locking has at least two locking hooks.
The invention also relates to a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam connected by a connection element, wherein said first beam and said second beam respectively comprise a first locking hook and a second locking hook extending away from each other and said first beam comprises a force application button for operating said latch.
Such a latch can be applied advantageously in a connector as described above.
The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 10 provides the advantage that movement of the latch or portions thereof can be controlled during application of a force on the force application button.
Finally, the invention also relates to a method for releasing a cable connector from a board connector. The cable connector comprises a connector housing and a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and second beam are connected with each other via a connection element. The first beam comprises a first locking structure and the second beam comprises a second locking structure capable of locking said connector onto said board connector in a locking position of said first and second locking structure. The first beam comprises a force application element and said second beam and said housing are arranged to interact with each other in order to move said second locking structure. The method comprises the step of applying a force on said force application element of said first beam to release said first and second locking structure from said board connector.
The invention will be further illustrated with reference to the attached drawings, which schematically show a preferred embodiment according to the invention. It will be understood that the invention is not in any way restricted to this specific and preferred embodiment.
In the drawings:
The cable connector 1 has two cables 4, entering the connector housing 2 via openings 5, with wires (not shown) connected to a series of contacts 6 provided in a connector housing 2. The openings 5 and contacts 6 are arranged such that the longitudinal axis of the openings 5 in which direction the cables 4 extend are arranged substantially perpendicular to the insertion direction for the contacts 6.
The connector housing 2 is completed by a cover 7 with latches 8 and a screw 9 fitting respectively into openings 10 and a threaded hole 11 of the connector housing 2.
An interaction structure 12 is provided on a wall of the connector housing 2. In the present embodiment, this interaction structure 12 is a ridge.
The resilient monolithic latch 3 comprises a first beam 13 and a second beam 14 connected by a connection element 15.
The first beam 13 comprises a force application structure or button 16, a first locking structure 17 and protrusions 18 provided between the connection element 15 and the locking structure 17. The locking structure 17 is shaped as a locking hook extending in a direction away from the second beam 14.
The second beam 14 does not comprise a force application structure, but only has a second locking structure 19 provided as a locking hook extending in a direction away from the first beam 13. The second beam also has protrusions 20 provided between the connection element 15 and the locking structure 19.
The connector housing 2 has an opening 21 capable of exposing the button 16 of the latch 3 to enable operation of the latch 3 as will be discussed in further detail with reference to
The cable connector 2 of
The operation of the cable connector 1 according to an embodiment of the invention will be described next with reference to
In
If a user desires to release the cable connector 1 from the board connector 30, he may manually presses (indicated as a force F) the button 16 provided on the first beam 13 of the latch 3 that is exposed through the opening 21 of the cable connector housing 2. The second beam 14 of the latch 3 and the connector housing 2 are arranged to interact with each other by providing the ridge 12 to move the second locking structure 19 from the locking position of
More specifically, the application of a force F on the button 16 and the relative positions of the button 16 and the ridge 12 with respect to each other trigger movement of the latch 3, in particular the top of the latch 3 at the connection element 15, in the cable connector housing 2 such that the second locking structure 19 of the latch 3 is retracted into the cable connector housing 2. In the embodiment shown in
In order to control the movement and (elastic) deformation of the latch 3 within the connector housing 2, the connector housing 2 comprises guiding structures 24 as most clearly illustrated in
Further control of the movement may be accomplished by providing a stop (not shown) that limits movement of the first beam 13 on application of a force F. Such a stop may prevent permanent deformation of the latch 3 if the force F exceeds a certain value. In practice, forces F may be in the range of 5-50 Newtons, such as 10, 20 or 30 Newtons.
It should be clear that the basic concept of the invention is that by operating only one button 16 of the latch 3, both locking structures 17, 19 can be displaced. However, this does not necessarily mean that the latch 3 should only have a single button 16, as will be shown with reference to
The latch 3′ in
Again, on application of a force F on the button 16, the locking structures 17, 19 of the latch 3′ are both displaced as discussed with reference to
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2005/014194 | 11/28/2005 | WO | 00 | 5/27/2008 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2007/059798 | 5/31/2007 | WO | A |
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20090258525 A1 | Oct 2009 | US |