Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-28
2002-04-02
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S668000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06364684
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking mechanism of connectors for interconnecting shielded wires used for electrically connecting a plug and a jack of an antenna in an audio equipment or the like mounted on an automobile or the like.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-51078, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various locking mechanisms for connectors, used for connecting shielded wires together, have heretofore been known, and
FIGS. 4 and 5
show one such example.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, the related connector locking mechanism
51
includes lock projections
54
, formed respectively at distal ends of resilient piece portions
53
provided at an outer peripheral portion of a male connector
52
(which is used for connecting shielded wires W
1
and W
2
of an antenna plug and an antenna jack together), and springs
55
which are resiliently deformable radially of the male connector
52
, the lock projections
54
and the springs
55
projecting radially outwardly from the outer peripheral surface of the male connector
52
. When the male connector
52
and a female connector
71
are connected together, the lock projections
54
are engaged in a lock groove
73
formed in an inner peripheral surface of a jack sleeve
72
of the female connector
71
, thereby locking or holding the male connector
52
and the female connector
71
in a mutually-connected condition, and also the springs
55
are held against the inner peripheral surface of the jack sleeve
72
, so that the shield connection is effected.
More specifically, a male terminal
56
of a round rod-like shape, provided at a front end of the male connector
52
, is supported in a male housing
57
made of a non-electrically-conductive material such as nylon, and a shield member
58
is fitted on the male housing
57
. A plurality of axially-elongated notches are formed in the shield member
58
except a front end portion thereof, and a rear end portion of this shield member
58
is bent radially outwardly to provide the springs
55
and the resilient piece portion
53
. As described above, the lock projection
54
is formed on an outer surface of the resilient piece portion
53
at the rear end thereof.
A shield braid-clamping portion
59
and a wire clamping portion
60
are disposed rearwardly of the shield member
58
, and a shield braid
61
is clamped by the shield braid-clamping portion
59
, and the shielded wire W
1
is clamped by the wire clamping portion
60
. A conductor
62
extends from the front end of the shielded wire W
1
, and is fixedly connected to the distal end of the male terminal
56
.
An axially-slidable slide member
63
, made of a synthetic resin, is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the shield member
58
to cover the same. Notches
64
and
65
are formed in the slide member
63
, and the resilient piece portions
53
can project outwardly from the slide member
63
through the respective notches
64
, and the springs
55
can project outwardly from the slide member
63
through the respective notches
65
.
The female connector
71
includes a female terminal
74
provided at an axis thereof, and this female terminal
74
has a connecting spring
75
formed integrally therewith, and this connecting spring
75
is pressed against the male terminal
56
, thereby electrically connecting the female terminal
74
to the male terminal
56
. An L-shaped metal member
76
, formed integrally with the female terminal
74
, is fixedly connected to a conductor
77
of the female-side shielded wire W
2
. The female terminal
74
is fitted in a female housing
78
of a tubular shape made of a non-electrically-conductive material such as nylon, and this female housing
78
is covered with the jack sleeve
72
serving as a shield member. A shield braid-clamping portion
79
and a wire clamping portion
80
are disposed rearwardly of the jack sleeve
72
, and a shield braid
61
is clamped by the shield braid-clamping portion
79
, and the shielded wire W
2
is clamped by the wire clamping portion
80
.
The lock groove
73
is formed in the inner surface of the jack sleeve
72
at the front end thereof, and the lock projections
54
can be engaged in this lock groove
73
. The outer surface of the jack sleeve
72
is covered with an insulative outer tube
81
made of a synthetic resin.
In the connector locking mechanism
51
of the above construction, the rear portion of the slide member
63
of the male connector
52
and the insulative outer tube
81
of the female connector
71
are held with the hands, respectively, and then the male connector
52
is inserted into the female connector
71
. As a result, the male terminal
56
is brought into contact with the connecting spring
75
of the female terminal
74
, and therefore is electrically connected thereto. At the same time, the resilient piece portions
53
are resiliently deformed, so that the lock projections
54
are engaged in the lock groove
73
, thereby locking the male connector
52
to the female connector
71
.
The springs
55
are pressed against the inner surface of the jack sleeve
72
, and therefore the male-side shield member
58
is electrically connected to the jack sleeve
72
serving as the female-side shield member, so that the male connector
52
and the female connector
71
, thus connected together, are shielded. The female and male connectors have the insulative outer tube
81
and the slide member
63
(both of which is made of a non-electrically-conductive material), respectively, each serving as an outer covering member, and therefore even when other electrode, wire or the like accidentally contacts these connectors, the short-circuiting will not occur.
For canceling the mutually-connected condition of the male and female connectors
52
and
71
, the slide member
63
and the insulative outer tube
81
are held with the hands, respectively, and are moved away from each other, so that the slide member
63
is first moved slightly in the disconnecting direction. As a result, the front end (edge) of each notch
64
presses the corresponding resilient piece portion
53
toward the axis of the male connector
52
, thereby disengaging the corresponding lock projection
54
from the lock groove
73
, and at the same time the front end (edge) of each notch
65
brings the corresponding spring
55
out of contact with the inner surface of the jack sleeve
72
. Therefore, when the two connectors are further moved away from each other, the whole of the male connector
52
is completely disconnected from the female connector
71
, so that the male terminal
56
is disengaged from the female terminal
74
, thus completing the disconnecting operation.
In the above connector locking mechanism
51
, however, the springs
55
of the male connector
52
are held against the inner surface of the jack sleeve
72
, and therefore a gap is formed between the slide member
63
of the male connector
52
and the jack sleeve
72
.
Therefore, when the male connector
52
is forced into gouging relation to the female connector
71
to be inclined, for example, at an angle a within the jack sleeve
72
at the time of canceling the locked condition, the lock projections
54
are firmly fitted in the lock groove
73
, which results in a problem that the locked condition can not be canceled.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the above problem in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector locking mechanism in which even if a pair of connectors, connected together in a fitted manner, are forcibly inclined relative to each other, a force, required for disconnecting the two connectors from each other, will not increase, and also a force of fitting between the two connectors, will not decrease.
To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector locking mechanism which comprises a plurality of lock members provided at an outer periph
Nasri Javaid
Nguyen Khiem
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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