JP2003051355A - Plug type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the scraping or damage to a casing of an opposite connector even if prying force is applied by using a metal wire as a lock member in a plug type connector lockable to the opposite connector, and to miniaturize the plug type connector. SOLUTION: This plug type connector has the lock members 40 engaging with engagement parts of the opposite connector. The lock member 40 is manufactured by bending the cross-sectionally circular metal wire. The lock member 40 has an elastically deformable arm part 42 and chevron-shaped engaged parts 44. A casing 10 is formed in a flat shape, and the engaged parts 44 of the lock member 40 are projected in a thickness direction of the easing 10. The lock member 40 is formed of a pair of bent wires 41, 41.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plug-type connector, and more particularly to a plug-type connector provided with a lock member that is connected to a mating connector when connected to the mating connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-176620, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-19284, U.S. Pat.
This publication describes a plug-type connector of this type, and in these plug-type connectors, a spring plate made of sheet metal is used as a lock member. Also, US Patent De
s. Japanese Patent No. 424519 discloses an example in which a lock member is formed of a resin molded body.

[0003]

However, in the case where the spring plate made of sheet metal is used, if a prying force is applied when connecting or disconnecting the plug-type connector to or from the mating connector, the sheet metal spring plate is used. When the casing (housing, case) of the mating connector is scraped by the edge of the spring plate, and such a situation occurs repeatedly by repeating connection and disconnection, the lock member made of the spring plate and the mating connector. There is a problem that the stability of the locked state is impaired because the position of the engagement position with is changed.

Further, in the case where the lock member is formed of a resin molding, the lock member itself becomes large in order to secure the necessary strength required for the lock member, which is the external shape of the plug type connector. In particular, there is a problem that the width dimension must be lengthened, which hinders downsizing of the plug-type connector.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is based on the use of a metal wire rod for the lock member. By bending the metal wire rod to produce the lock member, Even if a twisting force is applied when connecting or disconnecting the plug-type connector to or from the mating connector, the housing of the mating connector will not be scraped, and the stability of the locked state can be improved. It is intended to provide a plug-type connector.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a plug-type connector which can facilitate miniaturization by making it possible to keep the size of the lock member in the width direction of the plug-type connector extremely small. To do.

Further, according to the present invention, when a twisting force is applied when the plug-type connector connected to the counterpart connector is detached, the locking member is released before the counterpart connector is broken and the counterpart connector is broken. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plug-type connector capable of preventing damage to a plug.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a plug-type connector which allows the lock member to be manufactured at a low cost and facilitates cost reduction.

[0009]

A plug-type connector according to the present invention is provided at a contact portion electrically connected to a mating connector and on both sides sandwiching the contact portion, and the contact portion is used as a mating connector. And a locking member having elasticity that is engaged with an engaging portion provided on the mating connector when connected to each other. The lock member is manufactured by bending a metal wire rod having a circular cross section.

According to the present invention, since the metal wire rod forming the lock member has a circular cross section, the lock member does not have an edge. Therefore, even if a twisting force is applied to connect or disconnect the plug-type connector to or from the mating connector, the edge of the locking member does not cause the casing of the mating connector to be scraped. In addition, a lock member manufactured by bending a metal wire rod is easier to make smaller than a lock member manufactured by a leaf spring or a resin molded body, so a lock member manufactured by a metal wire rod is used. This facilitates miniaturization of the plug-type connector including the member. Furthermore, if a metal wire rod is bent to produce a lock member, the metal wire rod itself is inexpensive and does not require high-level processing. Therefore, the lock member is a lock made of a leaf spring or a resin molded body. It is cheaper than the member, which helps reduce the cost of the plug-type connector.

According to the present invention, the lock member is housed in a housing and has an elastically deformable arm portion whose tip portion projects toward the front side of the housing, and a mountain-shaped engaged member provided at the tip of this arm portion. The engaging portion of the chevron shape is pressed against the engaging portion of the mating connector from the outside so as to slide with the engaging portion and elastically deform the arm portion. The front side inclined portion for overcoming the inside portion of the engaging portion, and the engaged portion overcoming the engaging portion and reaching the inside thereof to cooperate with the contact surface provided in the casing. It is possible to employ a configuration having a rear side inclined portion that compresses the engaging portion, and the front side inclined portion and the rear side inclined portion are inclined in opposite directions. In the present invention, the mountain-shaped engaged portion has an arc shape in which the front sloped portion and the rear sloped portion are continuous with each other even if the front sloped portion and the rear sloped portion are formed in a straight line shape. It may be formed in. In this invention, the rear-side inclined portion is engaged with the contact surface when the casing is pulled in a direction away from the engaging portion from the state of pressing the engaging portion in cooperation with the contact surface. It is desirable to have a slope that allows the engaged portion to be guided to the outside of the engaging portion while sliding with the joint portion to elastically deform the arm portion.

According to this, when connecting the plug type connector to the mating connector, it is only necessary to push the mountain-shaped engaged portion from the outside into the engaging portion of the mating connector. By doing so, the engaging portion of the mating connector is pinched by the cooperation of the rear inclined portion of the engaged portion and the contact surface of the housing,
The mating connector and the plug-type connector are connected without rattling. This action is more effectively exerted because the lock member is made of a metal wire rod and the rear inclined portion of the engaged portion exerts the elasticity provided in the wire rod. When detaching the plug-type connector from the mating connector, it is sufficient to pull the housing of the plug-type connector. Furthermore, when a twisting force is applied to the plug-type connector or the mating connector that are connected to each other, the front sloped part, the rear sloped part, the arm part, etc. of the engaged part are made of metal. Since the wire rod itself is deformed by the elasticity and absorbs the twisting force and acts so as to disengage the engaged portion from the engaging portion, the case of the plug type connector or the counterpart connector is said to be destroyed. The situation is prevented beforehand.

According to the present invention, the casing is formed in a flat shape, and the mountain-shaped engaged portion of the lock member is provided so as to protrude from the arm portion in the thickness direction of the casing. It is desirable that the housing be provided with a guide surface that restricts the elastic deformation direction of the arm portion in the thickness direction of the housing. According to this, the width of the engaged portion occupying the entire width of the housing is only the thickness of the metal wire rod forming the engaged portion, and the engaged portion is elastically deformed by the arm portion. Since the deflection direction of the portion is restricted only to the thickness direction of the casing, it is not necessary to include the deflection width dimension of the engaged portion in the width dimension of the casing. Therefore, the width of the housing can be reduced and the miniaturization thereof can be facilitated more easily than the case where the lock member is formed of the resin molded body described at the beginning.

According to the present invention, the arm portion is formed by a pair of parallel straight portions, and the mountain-shaped rearward inclined portion of the engaging portion is connected to the tip of the straight portion on one side and the other side. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the front side inclined portion of the engaging portion is continuously provided at the tip of the straight portion. According to this structure, even if a thin metal wire rod that is easy to bend with soft elasticity and is inexpensive is used for the metal wire rod, an appropriate strength is exerted on the pair of parallel linear portions forming the arm portion. It is easy to provide the elasticity of the depth.

In the present invention, the lock member is a pair of bent wire rods each having the arm portion and the mountain-shaped engaged portion, and each bent wire rod has the mountain-shaped engaged portion. It is preferable that the housings are arranged in an overlapping manner in the width direction of the housing in a state of protruding in mutually opposite directions. In this case, in particular, between the pair of bent wire rods, it is desirable that the straight portions on the other side are arranged so as to overlap each other in the width direction of the housing.

According to this, the respective engaged portions of the pair of bent wire rods are engaged with the two engaging portions provided in the mating connector to connect the plug type connector and the mating connector. Since it becomes possible, it is possible to improve the connection stability.

[0017]

1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a plug type connector P according to an embodiment of the present invention with a part thereof omitted, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a lock unit 30.
5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion along the line III-III in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion along the line IV-IV in FIG.
2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion taken along the line VV in FIG. 2, and FIG.
6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion along the VI-VI line of FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a portion along the VI-VI line of FIG. 2, and FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the plug-type connector P joined to the jack as the mating connector J. 9 to 11 are partially cutaway side views for explaining the operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, this plug type connector A
Is a plurality of sheet metal contact points 20 for forming contacts inside a flat and oblong housing 10 formed by a base portion 11 and a cover portion 12 combined with the base portion.
And lock units 30 and 30 provided on both sides of the row of the contact portions 20, respectively, and the lock members 40 and 40 included in the contact portions 20 and the lock units 30 and 30. Is the front end surface 13 of the housing 10.
Is protruding to the front side of. The front end surface of the case 31 of each lock unit 30 is flush with the front end surface 13 of the housing 10, and the front end surface is formed as a contact surface 32 provided in the housing.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 7, the locking member 4
0 is provided with a pair of bent wire rods 41, 41 manufactured by bending a thin wire rod made of metal having a circular cross section. Each of the bent wire rods 41 includes a pair of parallel long straight line portions 42a and 42b forming an arm portion 42,
Chevron-shaped engaged portions 44 connected to the tips of the linear portions 42a and 42b, and the linear portions 42a and 42b, respectively.
It is integrally provided with locking portions 45, 45 which are bent at the base of b. The chevron-shaped engaged portion 44 includes a linear front-side inclined portion 46 inclined forward and downward, and the front-side inclined portion 46.
Is provided with a rear-side inclined portion 48 which is smoothly continuously inclined via a curved portion 47 and which is inclined forward and upward.
A rear inclined portion 48 is smoothly connected to the tip of 2a via a curved portion 49, and a front inclined portion 46 is smoothly connected to the tip of the other straight portion 42b.

On the other hand, the case 31 of the lock unit 30 has a base 34 in the left-right direction as can be seen from FIGS.
It has a split structure formed by combining the cover 35 with the cover 35. As shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, in the inside of the case 31, a vertically long locking groove 36 is formed.
And three holding grooves 37, 38, 39 extending forward and in parallel from the vertical groove 36, and these holding grooves 37, 38, 3
9 and a flat guide surface 33 formed by a concave surface provided on the front side of 9.

A pair of straight line portions 42a of the bent wire rod 41 on one side forming the above-mentioned lock member 40,
42b is fitted and held in the two adjacent lower holding grooves 37, 38 without rattling, and the bent wire 4
The two engaging portions 45, 45 of No. 1 are fitted into the engaging groove 36 and held so as not to rattle forward and backward, and further, a pair of linear portions 42 a, 42 extending from the retaining grooves 37, 38.
b contacts the guide surface 33 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction,
In addition, the chevron-shaped engaged portions 44 and their linear portions 42
The tips of a and 42b project to the front side of the contact surface 32 formed by the front end surface of the case 30. In addition, the pair of straight line portions 42a and 42b of the bent wire rod 41 on the other side forming the lock member 40 are fitted and held in the two adjacent upper holding grooves 38 and 39 without rattling, The two engaging portions of the bent wire rod 41 have the engaging grooves 3
It is fitted in 6 and held so that it does not rattle back and forth,
Further, the pair of straight line portions 4 extending from the holding grooves 38, 39.
2a and 42b slidably contact the guide surface 33 in the vertical direction, and the tip end portions of the linear portions 42a and 42b are formed by the front end surface of the case 30 together with the angled engaged portion 44. It projects to the front side of the contact surface 32.
Here, of the three holding grooves 37, 38, 39, in the central holding groove 37, as shown in FIG.
The linear portions 42b, 42b on the other side of 41 are formed on the housing 10
They are arranged in an overlapping manner in the width direction (see FIG. 1). Similarly, the linear portions 42b, 42b are arranged in an overlapping shape between the left and right guide surfaces 33 as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the mountain-shaped engaged portion 44 provided in the lower bent wire rod 41 has the housing 10 shown in FIG.
Of the bent wire rod 41 on the upper side, and the chevron-shaped engaged portion 44 of the bent wire rod 41 on the upper side projects toward the upper side in the thickness direction of the housing 10 shown in FIG. Further, inside the case 31, there is secured a space that allows the above-described displacement of the arm portion 42 in the vertical direction (the thickness direction of the housing 10) without difficulty.

FIG. 8 shows a mating connector J which is a jack type connector. The mating connector J in the example is
The horizontally long hollow casing 100 is provided with an insertion space (not shown) for inserting the row of the contact portions 20 of the plug-type connector P, and also with an electrode (not shown) in contact with the row of the contact portions 20. ing. Further, on both sides in the left-right direction sandwiching the insertion space, the lock portions into which the engaged portions 40, 40 of the pair of lock units 30, 30 (see FIG. 1) provided on both sides of the plug-type connector P are inserted and removed. 110 is equipped. As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the lock portion 110
Is a receiving surface 112 that is flush with the end surface of the housing 100 shown in FIG.
And a pair of upper and lower engaging portions 114, 114 formed by upper and lower portions of the opening edge of the vertically elongated opening 113, and the back portions of the engaging portions 114, 114 are hollow.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description of the operation, only the lock unit 30 on one side will be described, but the lock member on the other side also operates in parallel with that on the one side, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

When the plug-type connector P is opposed to the mating connector J and the row of contact portions 20 (see FIG. 1) is inserted straight into the vertically elongated opening 113 of the mating connector J from the front, the arrow in FIG. As shown in a, the front sloped portions 46 of the upper and lower engaged portions 44, 44 of the lock member 40,
46 is pressed against the upper and lower engaging portions 114, 114 from the outside, and then slides on the engaging portions 114, 114 to elastically deform the arm portions 42, 42 and the engaged portion 4
4, 44 are made to get over the inside of the engaging portions 114, 114. Then, the engaged parts 44, 44 are engaged with the engaging parts 114, 1
When you get over 14 and reach inside, as shown in Fig. 9,
The contact surface 32 contacts the receiving surface 112, and the engaged portion 4
The rear slanted portions 48, 48 of the engaging portions 114, 11
4, the engaging portions 114, 114 are pressed between the engaged portions 44, 44 and the contact surface 32. In this way, the plug-type connector P is connected to the mating connector J without rattling. It is in a locked state.

When the plug type connector P is detached from the mating connector J by releasing the locked state shown in FIG. 9, each housing 10 of the plug type connector P or the mating connector J,
They may be pulled in the direction of pulling 100 apart. When this disengagement operation is performed, the housing 10 of the plug-type connector P is pulled in a direction away from the engaging portions 114, 114, so that the rear inclined portions 48, 48 of the engaged portions 44, 44 are engaged with the engaging portion 11.
The engaged parts 44, 44 are guided to the outside of the engaging parts 114, 114 while sliding with the elastic parts 4, 114 to elastically deform the arm parts 42, 42. As a result, the locked state is released and the plug-type connector P is separated from the mating connector J.

On the other hand, when releasing the locked state of FIG.
For example, when the plug-type connector P is twisted in the direction of the arrow b in FIG. 11, the rear inclined portion 48 of one engaged portion 44 slides on the engaging portion 114 to elastically deform the arm portion 42. The engaged portion 44 is guided to the outside of the engaging portion 114. As a result, the locked state is released and the plug-type connector P is separated from the mating connector J. Therefore, the situation in which the housing 100 of the counterpart connector J, the engaging portion 114 of the lock portion 110, and the like are damaged due to the twisting force at that time does not occur.

The displacement direction of the arm portion 42, which is elastically deformed when the plug-type connector P is connected to or disconnected from the counterpart connector J, is displaced by the guide surface 33 described with reference to FIGS. Since it is restricted in the thickness direction of 10, the engaging / disengaging operation of the engaging portion 114 and the engaged portion 44 is stably performed. Further, since the engaged portion 44 is manufactured by bending a metal wire rod having a circular cross section into a mountain shape, the engaged portion 44 itself has no edge portion. Therefore, when engaging and disengaging the engaging portion 114 and the engaged portion 44, the engaged portion 44 causes the engaging portion 114 and the lock portion 1 to move.
10 itself does not occur, and as a result, the engaging portion 1
Even if the engaging and disengaging portions 14 and the engaged portion 44 are frequently repeated, the stability of the locked state due to them is not impaired.

In the embodiment described above, the lock unit 40 is mounted on the housing 10 of the plug-type connector P so that the housing 10 is equipped with the lock member 40. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the housing 10 is directly assembled. In that case, it is possible to adopt a structure in which the lock member 40 is press-fitted into an assembly portion that is partitioned and formed in the housing 10 and is assembled to the housing 10.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the wire member made of a metal having a circular cross section is used for the lock member, it is possible to connect or disconnect the plug type connector to or from the mating connector. Even if a twisting force is applied, the housing of the mating connector is not scraped off, and the stability of the locked state is improved. Further, by using the metal wire rod for the lock member, it becomes easy to promote miniaturization of the plug-type connector. Furthermore, even if a twisting force is applied when the plug-type connector connected to the mating connector is detached, it is possible to prevent the mating connector from being broken by the lock member being released before the mating connector is broken. You will be able to prevent it. Moreover, according to the present invention, the lock member can be manufactured at low cost, and the cost of the plug-type connector can be easily reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a plug-type connector according to an embodiment of the present invention with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a lock unit.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion taken along the line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion taken along the line VI-VI of FIG.

7 is a sectional view of a portion taken along the line VII-VII in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of a plug-type connector joined to a mating connector.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining a locked state.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining an initial stage of an operation of engaging the engaged portion with the engaging portion.

FIG. 11 is a side view, partly broken away, for explaining the action when twisted.

[Explanation of symbols]

P plug type connector J Counterpart connector 10 housing 20 contact points 32 contact surface 33 Guide surface 40 Lock member 41 Bent wire 42 Arm 42a, 42b Straight part 44 Engaged part 46 Front slope 48 Rear slope 114 engaging part

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A contact portion that is electrically connected to a mating connector, and a contact portion that is provided on each of both sides of the contact portion and is provided on the mating connector when the contact portion is connected to the mating connector. A plug-type connector provided with an elastic locking member that is engaged with an engaging portion, wherein the locking member is manufactured by bending a metal wire rod having a circular cross section. 2. An elastically deformable arm portion in which the lock member is housed in a housing and a tip portion of which protrudes toward the front side of the housing, and a chevron-shaped engaged portion provided at a tip of the arm portion. The chevron-shaped engaged portion slides on the engaging portion of the mating connector by being pressed against the engaging portion from the outside and elastically deforms the arm portion to move the engaged portion. The front slanted portion for overcoming the inside of the engaging portion and the engaged portion in cooperation with the contact surface provided in the housing when the engaged portion overlies the engaging portion and reaches the inside thereof. The plug-type connector according to claim 1, further comprising a rear side inclined portion that presses the portion, wherein the front side inclined portion and the rear side inclined portion are inclined in opposite directions. 3. The rear sloped portion, when the casing is pulled in a direction away from the engaging portion from a state of pressing the engaging portion in cooperation with the contact surface, 3. The plug-type connector according to claim 2, wherein the plug-type connector has a slope that allows the engaged portion to be guided to the outside of the engaging portion while sliding with the engaging portion to elastically deform the arm portion. 4. The housing is formed in a flat shape,
While the mountain-shaped engaged portion of the lock member is provided so as to protrude from the arm portion in the thickness direction of the housing,
The plug-type connector according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the housing is provided with a guide surface that restricts an elastic deformation direction of the arm portion in a thickness direction of the housing. 5. The arm portion is formed by a pair of parallel straight portions, the mountain-shaped rearward inclined portion of the engaging portion is connected to the tip of the straight portion on one side, and the straight portion on the other side is formed. The plug-type connector according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a front side inclined portion of the engaging portion is continuously provided at a tip of the portion. 6. The lock member comprises a pair of bent wire rods each having the arm portion and the mountain-shaped engaged portion, and the bent wire rods have the mountain-shaped engaged portions opposite to each other. The plug-type connector according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the plug-type connector is arranged in an overlapping shape in the width direction of the housing in a state of protruding in a direction. 7. The plug-type connector according to claim 6, wherein between the pair of bent wire rods, the linear portions on the other side are arranged so as to overlap each other in the width direction of the casing.