Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-15
2004-02-17
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06692287
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a connection device for connecting an electronic equipment and a signal cable, and particularly to a connection device having a connecting plug and a connecting jack and adapted for connecting a signal cable to an electronic equipment by inserting the connecting plug into the connecting jack.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, in order to connect a plurality of electronic equipments to enable transmission and reception of signals, a dedicated signal cable is used and a connector is used for connecting a signal cable and an electronic equipment. The connection device of this type connects the signal cable and the electronic equipment by usually inserting a plug or jack mounted at the end of the signal cable into a jack or plug provided on the equipment.
Recently, as a signal cable used for connecting various types of electronic equipments, not only an electric signal cable, which has been well known conventionally, but also an optical signal cable or the like for transmitting information by using light is used.
An equipment for transmitting information between electronic equipments by using light is described in the European Laid-Open Patent Application 0430107A2. A connection device which enables easy connection between a connecting plug and a connecting jack and easy disconnection thereof is described in the specification of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,236.
An exemplary connection device used for transmitting information between electronic equipments by using an optical signal cable will now be described.
In this connection device, a jack
103
is provided on the side of an electronic equipment
105
, and a plug
102
to be inserted and fitted in the jack
103
is mounted on both ends of an optical cable
104
, as shown in FIG.
1
.
When the plug
102
is inserted into a receiving hole of the jack
103
, a core
106
of the optical cable
104
provided at the center of the plug
102
faces an optical element
100
provided within the electronic equipment
105
. The jack installed in the electronic equipment
105
is called receptacle.
Referring to
FIGS. 2A and 2B
showing schematic cross-sectional views of the structure of the plug and the receptacle, a typical connection state will be described.
A plug
102
shown in
FIG. 2A
has a substantially cylindrical plug body
111
mounted at the distal end of an optical cable
104
, which is a signal cable for connecting a plurality of electronic equipments
105
, and holding a core
106
of an optical fiber at the central axial core, and an unlocking member
121
fitted on the outer circumference of the plug body
111
so as to be movable in the axial direction of the plug body
111
. As a ring-shaped engagement piece
114
is projected on the outer circumferential surface of the plug body
111
is situated in a void
122
, the plug body
111
and the unlocking member
121
are movable with respect to each other in the axial direction of the plug
102
within the spatial range in the void
122
.
As for a jack
103
installed on the equipment side, a tapered hole
136
to fit with a tapered portion
111
a
formed at the distal end of the plug body
111
is opened at the center, and the core
106
provided at the center of the inserted plug
102
and an optical element
100
installed in the equipment are maintained at predetermined positions and arranged to face each other at a constant distance from each other.
A plurality of lock members
131
for holding the plug
102
inserted in the jack
103
are housed in the jack
103
. The lock member
131
is supported in the jack
103
via a pivotal point portion
135
and is supported to be rotatable about the pivotal point portion
135
into the direction orthogonal to the direction of inserting the plug
102
. The lock member
131
has a press operator
134
projected at its center, and a plug engagement pawl
133
protruding toward plug
102
inserted in the jack
103
is formed at the right end in
FIGS. 2A and 2B
.
The plug
102
in this example is inserted into the jack
103
as the unlocking member
121
movable with respect to the plug body
111
is held by a hand. Therefore, when the plug
102
is inserted halfway in the jack
103
, an abutment piece
127
protruding inside the unlocking member
121
is abutted against the engagement piece
114
of the plug body
111
, as shown in FIG.
2
B. That is, the unlocking member
121
is moved rightward in
FIG. 2B
relatively to the plug body
111
.
As the plug
102
is inserted further into the jack
103
and the tapered portion
111
a
formed at the distal end of the plug body
111
is inserted and fitted in the tapered hole
136
provided at the center of the jack
103
, the center of the core
106
is aligned with the center of the optical element
100
installed in the equipment. Thus, the insertion of the plug
102
in the jack
103
is completed.
When the plug
102
is inserted, the press operator
134
of the lock member
131
provided in the jack
103
is pressed by the unlocking member
121
, and the plug engagement pawl
133
on the distal end side is rotated about the pivotal point portion
135
into the direction away from the inserted plug body
111
, as shown in FIG.
2
B.
As the plug
102
is further and fully inserted into the jack
103
, the lock member
131
is rotated back to the inserted plug
102
. The plug engagement pawl
133
is engaged with an engagement groove
124
formed at the distal end of the plug body
111
, and the press operator
134
is engaged with a cam groove
123
formed at a halfway part of the plug body
111
.
By being engaged with the engagement groove
124
, the plug engagement pawls
133
hold the plug body
111
between them, and hold the inserting position of the plug body
111
to the jack
103
, thus preventing detachment of the plug
102
when an external tension is applied to the optical cable
104
.
In the case of extracting the plug
102
from the jack
103
, the unlocking member
121
is moved leftward in
FIGS. 2A and 2B
along the axial direction of the optical cable
104
. When the unlocking member
121
is moved leftward in
FIGS. 2A and 2B
, the press operator
134
provided at a halfway part of the lock member
131
is guided by the cam groove
123
to move to the outer circumferential surface of the unlocking member
121
. The plug engagement pawl
133
of the lock member
131
is rotated about the pivotal point portion
135
into the direction away from the plug body
111
, thus unlocking the plug body
111
.
The junction part between the plug
102
and the jack
103
is the optical connecting part between the core
106
of the optical cable
104
and the optical element
100
inside the equipment. As the plug
102
is inserted, the core
106
of the optical cable
104
on the side of the plug
102
faces the optical element
106
on the equipment side. In order to minimize the transfer loss at the connecting part, the axial cores of the optical cable
104
and the optical element
100
must be aligned with each other with high accuracy and a constant distance must be maintained between the distal end surfaces of the optical element
100
and the optical cable
104
.
The above-described structure for engagement and holding of the plug body
111
by the plug engagement pawl
133
of the lock member
131
is provided in order to prevent movement of the end surface of the optical cable
104
after the connection between the plug
102
and the jack
103
and to optimize the transfer characteristic of the optical cable
104
.
In consideration of the structure, the position of the pivotal point portion
135
of the lock member
131
must be away to a certain extent from the center of the optical element
100
, which is the axial core of the jack
103
. As shown in
FIG. 3
, which is a schematic view of this state, the lock member
131
is rotated about the pivotal point portion
135
as the center of rotation and therefore the plug engagement pawl
133
moves along a locus indicated by X in FIG.
3
. The distal end of the plug engagement pawl
Maioli Jay H.
Patel Tulsidas
Sony Corporation
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