Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-16
2004-12-28
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06835087
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a locking mechanism for electrical connector applied to connection of a wire harness for vehicles etc., provided with an engaging part being engaged with a locking part of a mating connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG.
5
and
FIG. 6
show an example (Japanese Non-examined Utility Model Application Publication No. Sho 64-49906) of prior art relevant to this kind of locking mechanism for connector.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, a pair of a male type connector
50
and a female type connector
60
are applied to various cables, such as a core wire of optical fiber. The male type connector
50
is provided with a male type connector housing
51
including an electric wire insertion hole (not shown) thereinto, an electric wire
70
of which an edge is inserted through the electric wire insertion hole, and a locking arm
53
is formed as protruding from an outer wall
51
a
of the male type connector housing
51
in a cantilever shape. The locking arm
53
comprises an operating part
54
for pressing, and a locking projection
55
located at a free end side succeeding to the operating part
54
. An inclined surface
55
a
, which abuts against a fitting part
66
of the female type connector
60
, is formed on the locking projection
55
.
The female-type connector
60
is provided with a female type connector housing
61
including an engaging hood
64
, a metal fitting
67
extended outside from an outer wall
61
a
of the female type connector housing
61
, and the fitting part
66
formed on the engaging food
64
.
In order that the male type connector
50
engages with the female type connector
60
, the male type connector
50
is inserted into a engaging space
65
of the female type connector
60
while keeping the operating part
54
of the locking arm
53
pressed downward. Namely, pressing the operating part
54
downward allows the locking projection
55
to pass through the engaging space
65
with neither interference nor slidable contact with the engaging hood
64
, thus a pair of connectors
50
and
60
can be engaged together with low insertion power.
In such an engaging state, when a pulling force acts on the connectors
50
and
60
, the inclined surface
55
a
of the locking projection
55
abuts against the fitting part
66
of the engaging hood
64
. Then, the locking projection
55
bends downward along the inclined surface
55
a
thereof. Then, the locking projection
55
comes out of the fitting part
66
and the engagement is released. Namely, the pair of connectors
50
and
60
can be unlocked easily by the pulling force. Therefore, such a locking mechanism prevents both the electric wire
70
from rupturing in the middle thereof and an electric wire connection part
56
fitting over an end of the electric wire
70
from being damaged.
However, in a conventional locking mechanism, such as above described, there is a problem to solve, as follows.
First, in engaging the connectors
50
and
60
, when pressing down the locking arm
53
by depressing the operating part
54
, the locking projection
55
is not moved perpendicularly with respect to a direction of connector engagement, but is moved inclinedly or in a circular orbit. Therefore, an engagement position between the locking projection
55
and the fitting part
66
may not be fixed. Thus, there is an anxiety that said engagement may be carried out with some play.
If such play exists, the pair of connectors
50
and
60
cannot retain tightness thereof. Especially in a waterproof connector, water droplets or dust may penetrate from a crevice therein to produce a poor connection so that the reliability of the electrical connection may be lost.
Additionally, there is another problem that engagement force of the pair of connectors
50
and
60
is weak. Namely, the inclined surface
55
a
is formed on the locking projection
55
of the locking arm
53
. Thus, by pulling the electric wire
70
or connectors
50
and
60
, the locking arm
53
bends downward, then the locking projection
55
comes out of the fitting part
66
and the engagement is released.
Therefore, in order to increase the engagement force of the pair of connectors
50
and
60
, it is necessary to reduce resiliency of the locking arm
53
by increasing rigidity thereof, without modifying components-thereof. For attaining this, it is necessary that the locking arm
53
should have a thick body to improve section performance thereof. However, this structure makes a new problem that the locking arm
53
becomes larger and the male type connector
50
also becomes larger. Moreover, in engaging the pair of connectors
50
and
60
together, the locking projection
55
of the locking arm
53
rubs against an inner wall of the mating female type connector
60
and the insertion force required for joining the connectors
50
and
60
increases. Thus, the pair of connectors
50
and
60
cannot be engaged with each other smoothly.
Moreover, for releasing the engagement of the pair of connectors
50
and
60
, it is necessary to extract the locking projection
55
from the fitting part
66
while bending the locking projection
55
of the locking arm
53
downward. However, if the locking arm
53
is hard to bend, the operating part
54
must be depressed with a strong power. Thus, operability of the locking arm
53
turns bad.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above-described problems and an object of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism for an electrical connector that allows an engagement of connectors without any play, the engagement of connectors to prevent a reduction in engagement retaining power, and electrical terminals of the connectors to prevent a reduction in electrical contact quality.
In order to attain the above-described object, there is provided, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a locking mechanism of electrical connector that comprises one connector housing having a pair of projections facing with each other, one of the projections having a taper end, and the other connector housing having a locking part at a locking arm thereof, the locking part having an inverse taper rear end. In this locking mechanism, the locking part of the other connector housing is disposed in a space between the projections of the connector housing. Hereat, a front end of the locking part abuts against the taper end of the projection and the inverse taper rear end of the locking part abuts against an end of the other projection.
In this configuration, by inserting the locking part into the space between the pair of projections, clearance between the pair of projections and the locking part becomes zero. Thus, the play in the direction of the engagement of the connectors is canceled. Additionally, when the pulling force acts on the connector in the direction of the release of the connectors, the inverse taper rear end of the locking part thereof digs into the rear end of the projection of the other connector to improve a catch. Thus, this mechanism of the present invention prevents the connectors from being unlocked. Therefore, this mechanism prevents the reduction in the engagement retaining power and the reduction in the electrical contact quality. Additionally, this mechanism can prevent the connector from dropping out of the engagement. Thus, reliability of the lock of the connectors is improved.
Preferably, in the above described locking mechanism, the locking arm is supported by a middle fulcrum part and connecting parts. The middle fulcrum part is raised from the connector housing. The connecting parts connect to the connector housing. The locking part is positioned in between the middle fulcrum part and the connecting parts.
In this configuration, by supporting the locking arm by the middle fulcrum and the connecting parts, and by positioning the locking arm in between the middle fulcrum and the connecting parts, when the locking arm bends in an arch-shape, the locking par
Armstrong Kratz Quintos Hanson & Brooks, LLP
Bradley P. Austin
Nguyen Phuongchi
Yazaki -Corporation
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