The present invention relates to a connector with a wire cover.
Conventionally, a connector to which a wire cover for bending and drawing a wire in a predetermined direction is mounted at a rear side of a housing is known. For example, in a connector disclosed in JP H08-298160 A, a wire cover can be mounted in two ways in which wire drawing port is directed in opposite directions. Accordingly, a drawing direction of a wire can be selectively changed from two directions using a single wire cover.
However, in the connector as described above, a correct mounting direction of the wire cover might not be easily checked because the wire cover can be selectively mounted in the two directions.
The present invention is completed taking account of the problem described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector with a wire cover in which a drawing direction of a wire can be changed using a single wire cover and that makes it possible to easily check a direction of the wire cover.
A connector with a wire cover according to the present invention includes a connector body to be connected to a terminal of a wire, and a wire cover mounted to a rear surface of the connector body to bend and draw the wire in a predetermined direction. The wire cover can be mounted to the connector body in any one of a first direction in which a wire drawing port is directed in one direction, and a second direction in which the wire drawing port is directed in a direction opposite to the first direction. A first mark and a second mark having different appearances from each other are provided on an outer surface of a wall portion of the wire cover, the wall portion being located at a side opposite to the wire drawing port. A first identification mark corresponding to the first mark is provided on one of both side surfaces of the connector body, and a second identification mark corresponding to the second mark is provided on the other side surface. When the wire cover is mounted in the first direction, the first mark and the first identification mark are disposed close to each other. When the wire cover is mounted in the second direction, the second mark and the second identification mark are disposed close to each other. Here, the side surface of the connector body refers to a surface intersecting with the drawing direction of the wire from the wire cover, among the outer surfaces of the connector body.
The first identification mark or the second identification mark may be protrude from the side surface of the connector body. According to such a configuration, the first identification mark or the second identification mark can be formed using a molding die that is opened and closed in a front-rear direction.
The connector body may include a housing that can fit with a mating connector, and a lever that is rotated from an initial position to a final position for fitting the mating connector and the housing properly with each other. When the lever has reached the final position, the first identification mark or the second identification mark provided on the lever may be disposed at a position corresponding to the first mark or the second mark. According to such a configuration, a positional relationship between the identification mark provided on the lever and the mark provided on the wire cover to check that the lever has reached the final position.
According to the present invention, the direction of the wire cover can be easily checked by the mark of the wire cover and the identification mark of the connector body.
Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to
A connector with a wire cover according to the present example (hereinafter, simply referred to as a connector) includes a connector body C to be connected to a terminal of a wire W, and a wire cover 30 which bends and draws the wire W in a predetermined direction. The connector body C includes a housing 10 in which a terminal metal fitting (not shown) connected to a terminal portion of the wire W is housed, and a lever 20 which fits the housing with a mating connector 40 and releases the housing from the mating connector 40 when rotationally operated. Hereinafter, in each component, a side of a fitting surface of each of the connectors (a left side in
A housing 41 of the mating connector 40 is formed of synthetic resin, and as shown in
The housing 10 is formed of synthetic resin. The housing 10 includes a terminal housing portion 11 in which a plurality of terminal metal fittings is housed, and a lever housing portion 12 in which the lever 20 is housed. The housing 10 is, as a whole, formed in a substantially block shape which can be fitted in the hood portion 42 of the mating connector 40.
The terminal housing portion 11A is provided with a plurality of terminal housing chambers 11R in which the terminal metal fittings are individually housed. The terminal housing chambers 11R are separated into several rows in a vertical direction and aligned in the lateral direction in each row. When the metal fitting is housed in each of the terminal housing chambers 11R from the rear side, the wire W becomes a state of being drawn from a rear surface of the housing 10.
The lever housing portion 12 has a size extending over substantially the whole range in a width direction of the upper surface of the housing 10 and has a rear end portion protruding toward the rear side relative to the rear surface of the housing 10. As shown in
Further, the lever housing portion 12 is provided with an initial lock portion 15 with which an initial lock piece 24 provided on the lever 20 can be locked. The initial lock portion 15 is provided to be protruding at a position closer to a rear end of the second receiving path 14.
Further, the lever housing portion 12 is provided with a final lock portion 16 with which a final lock piece 28 provided on the lever 20 can be locked. The final lock portion 16 is provided at a position closer to a rear end of the lever housing portion 12 (see
A rear surface of the housing 10A is provided with cover mount portions 17 to which the wire cover 30 is mounted while sliding in the lateral direction (for example, see
Each of the upper and lower cover mount portions 17 is formed over the whole width of the housing 10. As shown in
The lever 20 is formed as a rotatable lever. As shown in
An upper surface of the cam plate portion 21A is formed with a cam groove 23 with which the cam pin 44 of the mating connector 40 is engaged (see
The cam plate portion 21 is provided with an initial lock piece 24 which holds the lever 20 to be positioned in the initial position by being locked with the initial lock portion 15 of the lever housing portion 12 when the lever 20 is positioned in the initial position. The initial lock piece 24 is formed in a cantilever manner so as to be extended from a position near the inlet of the cam groove 23, and a distal end thereof in an extending direction is to be locked with the initial lock portion 15.
Further, the cam plate portion 21 is provided with a final lock piece 28 which is locked with the final lock portion 16 of the lever housing portion 12 when the lever 20 has reached the final position. The final lock piece 28 is formed in a cantilever manner so as to be elastically deformed in a plate thickness direction (the vertical direction) of the cam plate portion 21. The final lock portion 16 can be locked with a lower surface of the final lock piece 28.
The operation portion 22 is erected on the upper surface of the cam plate portion 21. As shown in
As shown in
Further, the connector body C is provided with a first identification mark S1 and a second identification mark S2. The first identification mark S1 and the second identification mark S2 are described later in detail.
The wire cover 30 is to be mounted to the rear surface of the connector body C. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The slide portion 33 is formed with a slide groove 34 opened at one side in the lateral direction (a side of the wire drawing port 31) and closed at the other side. The guide rib 19 of the housing 10 is inserted into the slide groove 34.
The slide portion 33 is provided with a lock piece 35 which can be locked with the lock portion 18 of the housing 10. The lock piece 35 is provided at an end portion of the slide portion 33 at the wall portion 32 side of the wire cover 30 (an end portion at the rear side in a slide direction in mounting). The lock piece 35 is formed in a cantilever manner so as to be extended toward the rear side (a lower side in
Further, the right and left sides of the wire cover 30 can be reversed when mounted to the housing 10. That is, the wire cover 30 can be mounted to the connector body C in any one of a first direction (see
For example, as shown in
The first mark M1 and the second mark M2 are provided on the outer surface of the wall portion 32 (a rear end surface in the slide direction of the wire cover 30). On the outer surface of the wall portion 32, each of the first mark M1 and the second mark M2 is formed as a recess having a predetermined depth without penetrating the wall portion 32.
The first mark M1 and the second mark M2 are aligned in the vertical direction, and one of them is located at the upper side with respect to the center in the vertical direction and the other one is located at the lower side with respect to the center. The first mark M1 and the second mark M2 are arranged at substantially the same position in the front-rear direction. Further, when the wire cover 30 is mounted in the first direction, the first mark M1 is to be located at the upper side (see
The connector body C is provided with a first identification mark S1 and a second identification mark S2 corresponding to the first mark M1 and the second mark M2, respectively. The first identification mark S1 is provided on a left surface of the connector body C (one of both side surfaces), and the second identification mark S2 is provided on a right surface (the other surface). Further, when the wire cover 30 is mounted in the first direction, the first mark M1 and the first identification mark S1 are disposed close to each other. When the wire cover 30 is mounted in the second direction, the second mark M2 and the second identification mark S2 are disposed close to each other. The left surface and the right surface of the connector body C are substantially orthogonal to the drawing direction in which the wire W is drawn from the wire cover 30.
The first identification mark S1 and the second identification mark S2 are formed in the same shape as the corresponding marks M1 and M2, respectively; that is, the first identification mark S1 is formed in a circular shape and the second identification mark S2 is formed in a triangular shape (an equilateral triangle in which one apex is located at the lower center position). The first identification mark S1 and the second identification mark S2 are arranged in the connector body C so as to be substantially symmetry in the lateral direction (substantially the same position in the height direction and the front-rear direction). The first identification mark S1 is formed to be larger than the first mark M1, and the second identification mark S2 is formed in substantially the same size as the second mark M2.
As shown in
As shown in
Next, an example of mounting operation of the wire cover 30 in the connector according to the present example will be described.
At first, the wire cover 30 is set in a predetermined direction against the connector body C. At this time, the lever 20 is set in the final position.
In a case where the wire cover 30 is mounted in the first direction, as shown in
On the other hand, in a case where the wire cover 30 is mounted in the second direction, as shown in
Then, as shown in
Next, an example of fitting operation with the mating connector 40 will be described.
At first, the lever 20 is positioned in the initial position, and the cam pin 44 of the mating connector 40 is inserted into the inlet of the cam groove 23 by fitting the connector body C with the mating connector 40. At this time, locking between the initial lock piece 24 and the initial lock portion 15 is released by a lock releasing portion of the mating connector 40, and thereby the rotation operation of the lever 20 is allowed.
Subsequently, the lever 20 is rotated. When the lever 20 is rotated to the final position by pressing the operation portion 22 of the lever 20, the connector is moved closer to the mating connector 40 by a cam action due to the engagement between the cam pin 44 and the cam groove 23, and thereby the fitting proceeds.
Then, when the connector has reached the proper fitting position with respect to the hood portion 42, the terminal metal fitting and an opposite side terminal metal fitting are electrically connected to each other. Further, the final lock piece 28 of the lever 20 is locked with the final lock portion 16 of the housing 10, and thereby the rotation operation of the lever 20 toward the initial position is restricted.
At this time, in a case where the wire cover 30 is mounted in the second direction, as shown in
Next, functions and effects of the example formed as described above will be described.
The connector according to the present example includes the connector body C to be connected to the terminal of the wire W, and the wire cover 30 mounted to the rear surface of the connector body C to bend and draw the wire W in a predetermined direction. The wire cover 30 can be mounted to the connector body C in any one of the first direction in which the wire drawing port 31 is directed in the right direction and a second direction in which the wire drawing port 31 is directed in the left direction. The first mark M1 and the second mark M2 having different appearances from each other are provided on the outer surface of the wall portion 32 of the wire cover 30, the wall portion 32 being located at a side opposite to the wire drawing port 31. The first identification mark S1 corresponding to the first mark M1 is provided on the left side surface of the connector body C, and the second identification mark S2 corresponding to the second mark M2 is provided on the right side surface. When the wire cover 30 is mounted in the first direction, the first mark M1 and the first identification mark S1 are disposed close to each other. When the wire cover 30 is mounted in the second direction, the second mark M2 and the second identification mark S2 are disposed close to each other. According to this configuration, the direction of the wire cover 30 can be easily checked by the marks M1, M2 of the wire cover 30 and the identification marks S1, S2 of the connector body C.
Further, the first identification mark S1 protrudes from the side surface of the connector body C. According to this configuration, the first identification mark S1 can be formed using a molding die that is opened and closed in the front-rear direction.
Further, the connector body C includes the housing 10 that can fit with the mating connector 40, and the lever 20 which is rotated from the initial position to the final position thereby to be able to fit the mating connector 40 and the housing 10 properly with each other. When the lever 20 has reached the final position, the second identification mark S2 provided on the lever 20 is disposed at a position corresponding to the second mark M2. According to this configuration, it can be checked that the lever 20 has reached the final position, by the positional relationship between the second identification mark S2 and the second mark M2.
The present invention is not limited to the example that has been described with reference to the above descriptions and drawings, and for example, the following examples are also encompassed by the scope of the present invention.
In the example described above, a configuration in which the connector body C includes the housing 10 and the lever 20 is exemplary described. However, the present invention is not limited to the example, and can be applied to a configuration in which the connector body C does not include the lever. In such a configuration, the first identification mark and the second identification mark may be provided in the housing.
In the example described above, the first mark M1 is circular and the second mark M2 is triangular; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. The first and second marks may be formed in any shape such as a rectangular, a star or a character shape.
In the example described above, the first mark M1 and the first identification mark S1 are formed in the same shape, and the second mark M2 and the second identification mark S2 are formed in the same shapes; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. The first mark and the first identification mark as well as the second mark and the second identification mark are not necessarily formed in the same shapes as long as a corresponding relationship between the first mark and the first identification mark and a corresponding relationship between the second mark and the second identification mark can be recognized from respective appearances.
In the example described above, the first mark M1 and the second mark M2 are formed in the different shapes from each other; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. The first mark and the second mark may be formed in the same shape but have different colors.
In the example described above, the first identification mark S1 is provided in the housing 10 and the second identification mark S2 is provided in the lever 20; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. Both of the first identification mark and the second identification mark may be provided only in the housing or only in the lever.
In the example described above, each of the first identification mark S1 and the second identification mark S2 formed in the connector body C is formed as a protrusion portion; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. Each of the first identification mark and the second identification mark may not be protruded but be recessed contrary.
In the example described above, each of the first mark M1 and the second mark M2 formed in the wire cover 30 is formed as a recessed portion; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. Each of the first mark and the second mark may not be recessed and may be formed as a flat shape or protruded contrary.
In the example described above, the first identification mark S1 and the second identification mark S2 are located at the upper end corner of the rear end portion of the connector body C; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. Each of the first identification mark and the second identification mark may be arranged, for example, at the center portion in the vertical direction of the connector body or at the lower end portion. In such a case, the position of the mark of the wire cover may be changed in accordance with the position of the identification mark of the connector body.
In the example described above, when the lever 20 has reached the final position, the second identification mark S2 is positioned in front of the second mark M2 after passing above the second mark M2; however, the present invention is not limited to the example. For example, the second identification mark may be positioned right above the second mark when the lever has reached the final position as long as the second identification mark is positioned to correspond to the second mark
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2015-157904 | Aug 2015 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2016/073272 | 8/8/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/026437 | 2/16/2017 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4549780 | Bertini | Oct 1985 | A |
4629276 | Genaro | Dec 1986 | A |
4761145 | Goto | Aug 1988 | A |
4952168 | Schieferly | Aug 1990 | A |
5076802 | Colleran | Dec 1991 | A |
5735702 | Hio | Apr 1998 | A |
6338645 | Tan | Jan 2002 | B1 |
7063547 | Toyoda | Jun 2006 | B2 |
8197271 | Kobayashi | Jun 2012 | B2 |
8911263 | Becavin | Dec 2014 | B2 |
20020019156 | Fukamachi et al. | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20140321810 | Leigh | Oct 2014 | A1 |
20160006162 | Andresen | Jan 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
8-298160 | Nov 1996 | JP |
11-354243 | Dec 1999 | JP |
2002-56934 | Feb 2002 | JP |
2006-302761 | Nov 2006 | JP |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report dated Oct. 11, 2016. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180226744 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |