Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-23
2004-02-10
Nasri, Javaid (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688903
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector device, and, more particularly, to improvements in a connector device having a lock screw for maintaining the connection of male and female connectors which are connected to each other, an interface module using the connector device, and an adapter for changing the number of cores of a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a peripheral device (such as a printer, a storage device, or a display device) is connected to, for example, a computer or a communications apparatus, a connector device having a plurality of connecting elements is used. For example, as shown in
FIG. 6A
, a female connector
102
having a plurality of female connecting elements
102
a
used for inputting and outputting signals is provided on, for example, the back surface of an apparatus
100
such as a computer. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
6
B, a connector device
106
is provided on an end of a cable
104
which extends from, for example, the peripheral device. A male connector
108
having male connecting elements
108
a
which engage the female connecting elements
102
a
is provided on an end of the connector device
106
. In general, to reliably and stably connect the female connector
102
and the male connector
108
, lock screws are provided on the apparatus
100
and the connector device
106
, respectively. Usually, lock female screws (that is, female screws on which a locking operation is carried out) are provided on the apparatus
100
(that is, at the side of the connector to which a connection is made), whereas lock male screws
112
are provided on the connector device
106
. The lock male screws
112
freely advance and retreat in the directions of double-headed arrows A with respect to a connector housing
114
. As shown in
FIG. 6C
, with the female connector
102
and the male connector
108
being connected to each other, by rotating the lock male screws
112
and screwing them into their corresponding lock female screws
110
, the connection between the female connector
102
and the male connector
108
is maintained. Similarly, when an interface module is connected to the apparatus
100
, the interface module is provided as follows. A male connector
108
having a structure which is similar to that of the connector device
106
is provided at the end of the interface module which is connected to the apparatus
100
, while, for example, a connector having a different configuration is provided at the other end.
The connector device
106
described above can be connected to any apparatus as long as the apparatus has a female connector
102
which connects to the male connector
108
of the connector device
106
. By using the lock screws, a faulty connection is easily and reliably prevented (that is, signal communication failure) between the female connector
102
and the male connector
108
, and the female connector
102
and the male connector
108
can easily be separated from each other when connection needs to be made to a different device. A connector having a shape similar to the letter D, such as that shown in
FIG. 6B
, is called a D-Sub connector and is often used in computers.
However, depending on the type of apparatus to which the connector device is connected, the apparatus may have a female connector or a male connector. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a special-purpose connector device having a connector having a configuration that corresponds to the connector of the apparatus. In other words, it is necessary to provide a connector device having a male connector when the apparatus has a female connector, whereas it is necessary to provide a connector device having a female connector when the apparatus has a male connector. However, often the connector device is fixedly provided on a cable led out from a peripheral device or the connector device is integrally provided with, for example, an interface module. Therefore, when the male/female configuration of the connector arbitrarily changes depending on the apparatus, the configuration of the connector of the apparatus may be the same as the configuration of the connector of the connector device, thereby making it impossible to connect the connectors together.
In general, peripheral devices and interfaces are often continually used even when the apparatus, such as a computer, is changed, so that providing a special-purpose connector according to the type of apparatus is not economically reasonable. In such a case, the use of the following simple mechanism may be considered. Here, a low-cost changing cable which changes the male/female configuration of the connector (that is, for example, a cable having a lock male screw and a connector of the same shape at each end thereof) is used to change the configuration of the connector of the apparatus to correspond to the configuration of the connector of the peripheral device, whereby the apparatus and the connector device are connected together. However, lock male screws are provided on the changing cable and the connector of the peripheral device, such that the lock screws cannot be used during the connecting operation. Therefore, even if the male and female connectors are connected through, for example, a cable, the connection of the male and female connectors is not guaranteed, thereby resulting in the problem that the reliability of the connection is reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the above-described problems with the prior art, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a highly reliable, versatile connector device which does not require a special-purpose component even when the configuration of a connector to which a connection is made (that is, the connector of an apparatus) is arbitrarily selected from a male and a female configuration, and which makes it possible to use a lock screw for connecting male and female connectors together even when it is not possible to use the lock screw to firmly secure the connector device to the connector of the apparatus.
To this end, according a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a connector device is uniquely constructed to allow maintenance of a connection of a female connector and a male connector with each other. The connector device includes a lock male screw, and a mounting opening. The lock male screw is screwable to a lock female screw, on which a locking operation is carried out, of a connector side to which a connection is made. The mounting opening is used for inserting the lock male screw therein, and allows the lock male screw to move between a screwed position and a non-screwed position. A lock female screw which is screwable to a lock male screw, on which a locking operation is carried out, of the connector side to which a connection is made is mountable to the mounting opening.
According to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, a connector device is uniquely constructed to allow connection of a female connector to a male connector. The connector device includes a lock male screw, a mounting opening, and a lock female screw. The lock male screw is screwable to a lock female screw, on which a locking operation is carried out, of a connector side to which a connection is made. The mounting opening allows insertion of the lock male screw therein, and allows the lock male screw to move between a screwed position and a non-screwed position. The lock female screw is mountable to the mounting opening when the lock male screw is retracted in the non-screwed position. The lock female screw is screwable to a lock male screw, on which a locking operation is carried out, of the connector side to which a connection is made.
Here, the connector side to which a connection is made refers to an apparatus, such as a computer, or a cable having a connector which is connected to the apparatus. The mounting opening has a diameter which is greater than the diameter of the lock male screw in order not to prevent movement of the lock male screw
Kakinoki Wataru
Tsubono Masanori
Keating & Bennett LLP
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Nasri Javaid
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