Electrical connectors – With coupling separator – Including retainer or joiner
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-07
2002-05-21
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling separator
Including retainer or joiner
C439S372000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06390835
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector connecting structure including a first connector which is held by a connector holding member and a second connector which is fitted to the first connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a connector connecting structure of this kind, there is known a technique as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H10-21992. This prior art has a structure as shown in
FIGS. 1
to
5
. A connecting mechanism of this conventional connector will be explained with using
FIGS. 1
to
5
below.
This connector connecting mechanism comprises a holder
2
(corresponding to a connector holding member) mounted into a mounting hole
1
A formed in a subject member
1
such as a stay member of an automobile as shown in
FIG. 1
, a first connector
3
which is slidably fitted in the holder
2
, a second connector
5
connected to an electronic unit
4
and fitted to the first connector
3
. A swinging lever
6
for driving the second connector
5
into a direction to connect with the first connector
3
is turnably supported around a pivot
6
A by the first connector
3
.
The holder
2
is formed into a substantially prism shape, and includes a pair of upper and lower horizontal plates
7
,
8
, and a pair of left and right side plates
9
,
10
as shown in FIG.
1
. The holder
2
is inserted into the mounting hole
1
A formed in the mounting member
1
and fixed therein by fixing means such as screw.
The side plates
9
,
10
of the holder
2
are formed at their inner wall surfaces with guide grooves
11
,
12
along the longitudinal direction for slidably guiding the first connector. The horizontal plate
7
is formed with a guide groove
13
with which an engaging pin
6
B projecting from an upper surface of a rear end of the swinging lever
6
is engaged and guided. The guide groove
13
comprises an introducing portion
13
A rearwardly extending from a front end of the holder
2
, an arc driving grove portion
13
B extending from an end of the introducing portion
13
A rearwardly and inwardly, and a locking groove portion
13
C extending from an end of the driving groove portion
13
B rearwardly. The driving groove portion
13
B guides the engaging pin
6
B along an arc as the,first connector
3
is inserted into the holder
2
, and the swinging lever
6
is rotated by the motion of the engaging pin
6
B.
An engaging groove
16
is formed in a lower surface of a front end of the swinging lever
6
. This engaging groove
16
includes an opening
16
A which is an introducing/guiding portion of a driven pin
5
A and an operation groove
16
B which is continuously formed with the opening
16
A and extending inward of a rear portion of the swinging bar
6
.
A distance of the operation groove
16
B with respect to the pivot
6
A is set such that a distance between the operation groove
16
B and the pivot
6
A which is the swinging fulcrum is gradually reduced from a front end to a rear end of the operation groove
16
B. With this design, a driving force input from the driving groove
13
B to the swinging lever
6
is transmitted through the second connector
5
to move the latter in a direction in which it is connected to the first connector
3
.
That is, when the first and second connectors
3
,
5
are connected, as the first connector
3
is pushed into the holder
2
and slid and deformed, the operation groove
16
B pulls the driven pin
5
A toward the pivot
6
A by the turning movement of the swinging lever
6
, thereby moving the second connector
5
into the direction in which the second connector
5
is connected to the first connector
3
, i.e., into the connecting side.
Positions and shapes of the driving groove
13
B of the guide groove
13
with respect to the pivot
6
A and the operation groove
16
B of the engaging groove
16
are set such that a moving amount of the second connector
5
into the connection direction becomes smaller than a moving amount of the first connector
3
which is pushed into the holder
2
. With this design, the driving force input to the swinging lever
6
is increased by the sliding operation at the time of connection, and the driving force is transmitted from the operation groove
16
B to the driven pin
5
A of the second connector
5
.
Another swinging lever
6
is also provided on the other side face (lower face in
FIG. 1
) of the first connector
3
, and another driven pin
5
A projects from the other side face of the second connector
5
.
In
FIG. 1
, the reference symbol
3
A represents slide projections projecting from rear ends of opposite sides of the first connector
3
. The slide projections
3
A are guided by the guide grooves
11
,
12
formed in the inner walls of the opposite side plates
9
,
10
.
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 3
, a temporarily mounting portion
3
B which is temporarily mounted on the projection
2
B of the front end opening peripheral edge of the holder
2
is formed between the pair of slide projections
3
A,
3
A. As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, falling-out preventing projections
3
C,
3
C which are prevented from falling out by falling-out preventing portions
2
A,
2
A are provided on the opposite sides of the rear end of upper and lower surfaces of the first connector
3
.
The operation will be explained next.
When the first connector
3
and the second connector
5
having the above structure are connected, the first connector
3
is inserted into the holder
2
in a state where the first connector
3
is opposed to a tip end opening of the holder
2
. Then, the projections
3
C of the first connector
3
ride over the falling-out preventing portions
2
A and
2
A of the holder
2
(see
FIG. 2
) in accordance with the inserting operation, and the temporarily mounting portions
3
B of the first connector
3
abut against the projections
2
B of the holder
2
(see FIG.
3
). With this operation, the first connector
3
is temporarily mounted in a state where the first connector
3
is prevented from falling out. At the same time, the engaging pin
6
B projecting from the rear end of the swinging lever
6
is introduced into the guide groove
13
of the holder
2
.
At this stage, the holder
2
is fixed to the mounting member
1
. In this stage, the first connector
3
is temporarily mounted to the holder
2
, and the first connector
3
projects from the holder
2
.
Next, the second connector
5
is fitted to the first connector
3
.
At that time, if the first connector
3
is pushed rearward by the second connector
5
, the temporarily mounted state of the first connector
3
is released. The first connector
3
is slid deeply into the holder
2
and at the same time, the driven pin
5
A of the second connector
5
is introduced into the engaging groove
16
of the swinging lever
6
, and the driven pin
5
A and the swinging lever
6
are engaged with each other.
From this state, if the second connector
5
is further pushed against the first connector
3
, the first connector
3
is slid deeply into the holder
2
and deformed, and in accordance with this motion, the engaging pin
6
B of the swinging lever
6
slides along the arc driving groove
13
B of the guide groove
13
of the holder
2
, and the rotation force is generated to turn the swinging lever
6
. As the swinging lever
6
is turned, the driven pin
5
A of the second connector
5
slides along the operation groove
16
B of the engaging groove
16
, the driven pin
5
A is pulled toward the pivot
6
A which is the swinging fulcrum, and the second connector
5
is moved toward the first connector
3
, i.e., toward the connecting side.
At that time, since the guide groove
13
and the engaging groove
16
are formed such that a sliding displacement amount of the first connector
3
which swings and displaces the swinging lever
6
becomes smaller than a moving amount of the first connector
3
into a connecting direction with the second connector
5
which is driven by the swinging lever
6
, the driving force input to the swingin
Oishi Kenji
Okabe Toshiaki
Abrams Neil
Nasri Javaid
Yazaki -Corporation
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