The present application is based on Japanese patent application No. 2009-020716 filed on Jan. 30, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a latch structure attachably and detachably holding a connector in the cage and a cable with connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in accordance with speeding up of communication, a next generation I/O interface (I/O architecture) such as InfiniBand and PCI Express (which are registered trademarks in USA) is put to practical use. In the InfiniBand and PCI Express, high speed band frequency is realized by using a plurality of channels which are bundled.
In a connector used for the InfiniBand and PCI Express, the shape and dimension thereof are defined in accordance with the connection type and the number of the channel by a standard called MSA (Multi Source Agreement).
As an example, a cable with connector used for the PCI Express is shown in
As shown in
The cable with connector 120 is electrically connected to a communication device via a cage and a blade by inserting the insertion part 124 of the connector 121 into the cage (not shown) fixed to the blade (a line card) located at the side of the communication device such as a server. A latch structure 125 removably holding the connector 121 in the cage is installed in the connector body 123 of the connector 121.
The conventional latch structure 125 has a structure that a latch removal member 126 is slidably housed in a slide groove 130 formed on the upper surface of the connector body 123 and a cover 127 is installed so as to cover the upside of the latch disengagement member 126.
A engagement claw 128 to engage with an engagement hole formed on an upper surface of the cage from above is formed in an end portion of the cover 127 (right side in
A convex part 131 having an almost circular arc-like shape on a side view which becomes convex toward a side of the connector body 123 (lower side in
The conventional latch structure 125 is operable to allow the convex part 131 to be lifted upward along the convex part housing groove 132 by pulling the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 backward, consequently, the end portion of the cover 127 is lifted upward, and the engagement claw 128 is lifted upward. As just described, the conventional latch structure 125 functions to allow the connector 121 to be attached to and detached from the cage by pulling the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 backward so as to lift the engagement claw 128 upward.
Further, this technique is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2004-343506, JP-A-2004-311207, US-B-6666484, and US-A-2003/0049000.
However, since the conventional latch structure 125 has the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 which is installed so as to project to rearward of the connector body 123, it has a problem that the lever part 129 is complicated in appearance. Particularly, when a plurality of cables with connector 120 are connected to the blade or the like, the lever part 129 of each of the cables with connector 120 projects from a front surface of the blade, so that the appearance becomes extremely complicated.
Also, the conventional latch structure 125 has a problem that the connector 121 is difficult to attach and detach, since it is needed to attach and detach the connector 121 while pulling the lever part 129.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a latch structure that is capable of being easily attached and detached and has a good appearance, and a cable with connector.
In the above embodiment (1), the following modifications and changes can be made.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a latch structure that is capable of being easily attached and detached and has a good appearance, and a cable with connector can be provided.
The preferred embodiments according to the invention will be explained below referring to the drawings, wherein:
The preferred embodiments according to the invention will be explained below referring to the drawings.
As shown in
Hereinafter, a case that the cable with connector 1 is a cable based on the InfiniBand of 12 channels will be explained. An optical receiver-transmitter is mounted in the connector 4, and 12×2 optical fibers for both of reception and transmittance are connected to the optical receiver-transmitter as a cable 5. The cable with connector 1 is not limited to this, but, for example, it can be a cable based on the PCI Express.
As shown in
As shown in
The latch structure 6 includes a latch cover 7 rockably installed on the upper surface of the connector body 2, an engagement claw 8 to engage with the engagement hole 32 of the cage 31 formed at an end portion of the latch cover 7 (right side in
The latch cover 7 includes a cover body 9, the engagement claw 8 and a rocking member 10 extending from both sides of the cover body 9 of the latch cover 7 downward. The rocking member 10 is formed at an end portion side (right side in
The cover body 9, engagement claw 8 and rocking member 10 are integrally formed by fabricating a single plate material, and the rocking member 10 is formed by bending the plate material by almost 90 degrees downward. As the plate material for the latch cover 7, stainless-steel is preferably used.
The rocking member 10 includes a circular plate axis 11 having a circular plate-like shape to be an axis when the latch cover 7 rocks and a supporting leg 12 for combining the circular plate axis 11 and the cover body 9, and is formed so as to have an almost inverted Q shape as a whole.
A rocking groove 13 is formed in both side surfaces of the connector body 2 for rockably engaging the rocking member 10. The rocking groove 13 includes an axis groove 14 for rotatably housing the circular plate axis11 of the rocking member 10 and a groove for pivot 15 for rotatably housing the supporting leg 12 of the rocking member 10.
In addition, the upper surface of the connector body 2 is formed to be diagonally inclined so as to be lowered in height toward a rear end portion (left side in
The circular plate axis 11 is housed in the axis groove 14 and the supporting leg 12 is housed in the groove for pivot 15 so that the latch cover 7 is rockably installed in the connector body 2. When the latch cover 7 is installed in the connector body 2, it can be adopted that a part of rocking member 10 is expanded, in which state the rocking member 10 is fitted to the rocking groove 13.
The coil spring 21 is housed in the spring member housing hole 22, and always energizes upward the cover body 9 located behind the rocking member 10. Due to this, the engagement claw 8 is always energized downward so as to engage with the engagement hole 32.
As shown in
As shown in
Hereinafter, an operation of the embodiment will be explained.
In the latch structure 6 according to the embodiment, the latch cover 7 is formed of a single plate material and the rocking member 10 is formed in both sides of the cover body 9 covering the upper surface of the connector body 2 by bending the plate material downward, on the other hand, the rocking groove 13 is formed in both side surfaces of the connector body 2 for rockably engaging with the rocking member 10, and the rocking groove 13 is fitted to the rocking member 10 so that the latch cover 7 is rockably installed in the connector body 2.
In the conventional latch structure 120 explained in
In addition, in the conventional latch structure 120, in order to pull the lever part 129, it is needed for the lever part 129 to project to the rear ward of the connector body 123, however, in the latch structure 6, the engagement is released by pushing the cover body 9 from above so that it is not needed for the cover body 9 to project to the rear ward of the connector body 2. Consequently, it does not have a problem that the appearance becomes complicated as the case of the conventional latch structure 120 so that the latch structure 6 and the cable with connector 1 having a good appearance can be realized.
Further, the latch cover 7 is formed of a single plate material so that the number of parts can be reduced and the latch structure 6 can be formed at low cost without forming a complicated axis holding mechanism or the like.
Furthermore, the upper surface of the connector body 2 is formed to be diagonally inclined and the rocking of the latch cover 7 is restricted at the position that the cover body 9 becomes horizontal, so that the latch cover 7 and the connector body 2 can have an almost rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. Consequently, the connector 4 is able to satisfy the shape and dimension defined by MSA.
Hereinafter, Examples according to the invention will be explained.
A cable with connector 60 shown in
The plate spring 61 is formed by forming a cut in a U shape in a center portion of the cover body 9 and bending downward a part of the cover body 9 surrounded by the cut, and it is formed so as to be inclined downward from the rear to the front of the cover body 9.
As a plate material used for the latch cover 7, it is preferable to use a material less likely to be deformed by permanent deformation (plastic deformation) since a part thereof is used for a spring member (the plate spring 61), and for example, a spring material of stainless-steel is preferably used.
According to the latch structure 62, the plate spring 61 of a spring member can be also integrally formed as the latch cover 7 so that the number of parts can be further reduced and the latch structure 62 can be formed at low cost.
A cable with connector 70 shown in
The plate spring 61 is formed by forming two cuts in parallel from a center portion to a rear end portion of the cover body 9 and bending downward a part of the cover body 9 surrounded by the cut, and it is formed so as to be inclined downward from the front to the rear of the cover body 9.
According to the latch structure 71, similarly to the cable with connector 60 shown in
A cable with connector 80 shown in
Due to forming the plate spring housing groove81, the plate spring 61 can be restricted to move right and left, so that rattling of the latch cover 7 can be prevented and the latch structure 82 having further stability can be realized.
In the above-mentioned cable with connectors 1, 60, 70 and 80, the rocking member 10 of the latch cover 7 in a state of being expanded is fitted to the rocking groove 13, but there is concern that the latch cover 7 is deformed by plastic deformation when the rocking member 10 is expanded. In response to this, as shown in
However, if the plastic deformation still occurs, as shown in
A cable with connector 100 shown in
The latch structure 101 includes a stopper mechanism 102 for holding the circular plate axis 11 of the latch cover 7 in the axis groove 14. The stopper mechanism 102 is used for preventing rattling of the latch cover 7 and preventing the latch cover 7 from being detached from the connector body 2.
The stopper mechanism 102 includes a stopper groove 103 formed on the upper surface of the connector body 2 and a plate spring 104 integrally formed with the cover body 9, engaging with the stopper groove 103 so as to latch the latch cover 7 backward and energizing upward the cover body 9 located behind the rocking member 10. The plate spring 104 has two functions as a spring member for energizing the cover body 9 upward and a stopper for latching the latch cover 7 rearward in order that the latch cover 7 is not detached from the connector body 2.
In the latch structure 101, as shown in
As shown in
In the latch structure 101, the latch cover 7 is installed in the connector body 2 by that the circular plate axis 11 is housed in the axis groove 14 via the groove for pivot 15. Consequently, the rocking member 10 is not needed to be expanded when the latch cover 7 is attached to the connector body 2, so that the latch cover 7 can be easily attached to the connector body 2 without deforming the latch cover 7 by the plastic deformation.
In the above-mentioned embodiment, a case that one coil spring 21 or one plate spring 61, 104 is installed as a spring member was explained, but a plurality of the spring members can be also installed. Additionally, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case that the spring member is installed in the center portion of the cover body 9 was explained, but not limited to this, for example, it can be installed in both of the side end portions of the cover body 9. In this case, it is preferable that the plate spring housing groove81 or the stopper groove 103 is formed corresponding to the plate spring 61, 104.
Also, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case that the circular plate axis 11 has a circular plate-like shape was explained, but not limited to this, for example, it can have a semicircular shape or a polygonal shape.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case that the rocking of the latch cover 7 is restricted by the rocking restriction part 16 at the position that the cover body 9 becomes horizontal was explained, but, not limited to this, for example, another case that the rocking restriction part 16 is omitted, and the engagement claw 8 butts against the insertion part 3 of the connector 4 at a position that the cover body 9 becomes horizontal, and the rocking of the latch cover 7 is restricted by the insertion part 3 can be also adopted.
Although the invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments for complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art which fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2009-020716 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |