Electrical connectors – With coupling separator – Including retainer or joiner
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-09
2001-06-26
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling separator
Including retainer or joiner
C439S372000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250937
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a lever fitting-type connector in which a connector is fitted into a mating connector by pivotally moving a lever mounted on the connector.
2. Related Art
FIG. 6
shows a conventional lever fitting-type connector. This lever fitting-type connector comprises a male connector
1
, a lever
2
pivotally mounted on the male connector
1
, and a female connector
3
into which the male connector
1
is fitted.
The male connector
1
has a plurality of terminal receiving chambers
4
for respectively receiving terminals therein, which terminal receiving chambers
4
extend through the male connector
1
in an upward-downward direction. Disengagement prevention ribs
6
are respectively formed on and project laterally from opposite side surfaces
5
of the male connector
1
at one end thereof, and extend in a connector-fitting direction. A slot
7
is formed between each of the disengagement prevention ribs
6
and the corresponding side surface
5
, the slots
7
extending in the connector-fitting direction. Bosses
8
are also formed on and project from the opposite side surfaces
5
of the male connector
1
, respectively.
Each boss
8
is disposed generally centrally of the length of the male connector
1
. The lever
2
is pivotally supported by these bosses
8
.
The lever
2
includes a pair of right and left side walls
9
, and an operating portion
10
interconnecting the right and left side walls
9
. The right and left side walls
9
have rotation holes
11
, respectively, in which the bosses
8
are inserted, respectively, so that the lever
2
can be pivotally moved about the bosses
8
.
The operating portion
10
of the lever
2
interconnects the rear end portions of the right and left side walls
9
, and this operating portion
10
is operated or pressed when fitting the connector. Front end portions of the right and left side walls
9
remote from the operating portion
10
serve as projected engagement portions
12
, respectively. These projected engagement portions
12
are inserted respectively in the slots
7
in the male connector
1
, and therefore will not be disengaged respectively from the disengagement prevention ribs
6
, so that the lever
2
is prevented from being disengaged from the male connector
1
.
The female connector
3
includes a hood portion
13
with an open top into which the male connector
1
is fitted. Engagement holes
15
, in which the projected engagement portions
12
can be engaged, respectively, are formed in that surface
14
of the hood portion
13
which is to be opposed to the projected engagement portions
12
. Elongate grooves
16
for respectively receiving the disengagement prevention ribs
6
of the male connector
1
are formed respectively in opposite side surfaces of the hood portion
13
.
In this lever fitting-type connector, the lever
2
is mounted on the male connector
1
, as shown in
FIG. 6
, and the male connector and the lever in this assembled condition are inserted into the hood portion
13
, thus effecting the fitting operation. At this time, the disengagement prevention ribs
6
are inserted respectively into the elongate grooves
16
, and by doing so, the gouging engagement between the connectors
1
and
3
can be prevented.
For fitting the connectors together, the projected engagement portions
12
of the lever
2
, are passed respectively through the slots
7
in the male connector
1
, and are engaged respectively in the engagement holes
15
in the hood portion
13
, and in this engaged condition, the operating portion
10
is pressed. In this pressing operation, the operating portion
10
serves as a force-applying point, and the bosses
8
serve as an application point, and the projected engagement portions
12
, engaged respectively in the engagement holes
15
, serve as a supporting point. In this operation, the lever
2
is pivotally moved, and therefore the lever
2
and the male connector
1
are fitted in unison into the female connector
3
.
However, the male connector
1
, together with the lever
2
, is fitted in the hood portion
13
of the female connector
3
, and in this condition, when the operating portion
10
is pressed to pivotally move the lever
2
through an angle a as shown in
FIG. 7
, the distal ends of the projected engagement portions
12
are projected a distance D in the direction of the length of the male connector
1
in accordance with this pivotal movement. However, the distance D of projecting of the projected engagement portions
12
is small though the operating angle is large. Therefore, when the lever
2
is pivotally moved by pressing the operating portion
10
, with the male connector
1
fitted in the hood portion
13
of the female connector
3
in a shallow manner, the distal end of each projected engagement portion
12
fails to be brought into engagement with an upper end
15
A of the associated engagement hole
15
since the amount of projecting of the distal end of the projected engagement portion
12
is small, and as a result the projected engagement portion
12
is moved into a position (indicated in a dot-and-dash line in FIG.
7
). At this time, there is a possibility that the operator judges that the fitting operation is completed although the male connector
1
is actually half fitted in the hood portion
13
. Particularly, in order to secure a sufficient engagement amount of the projected engagement portions
12
, the amount of operation of the lever
2
must be set to a value larger than that required for the fitting of the terminals. This has resulted in a problem that the lever-operating angle a is increased.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a lever fitting-type connector in which the fitting operation can be positively effected with a small operating angle, and an uninterrupted movement of a lever in a half-fitted condition is prevented.
The above object has been achieved a lever fitting-type connector of the present invention wherein a lever is pivotally supported on a connector intermediate opposite ends thereof, and an operating portion, formed at one end portion of the lever, is pressed to pivotally move the lever while using the pivotally-supporting portion as an application point, thereby fitting the connector generally vertically into a mating connector; provided in that engagement projections are formed on and project laterally from opposite side surfaces of the lever, respectively, and each of the engagement projections is formed on such an area of the associated side surface of the lever that the amount of movement of the engagement projection in a generally-horizontal direction in accordance with the pivotal movement of the lever is larger than the amount of movement of the other end of the lever in a generally-horizontal direction; and guide grooves for respectively fitting on the engagement projections so as to guide them in a generally-vertical direction are formed respectively in opposite inner surfaces of the mating connector; and engagement grooves are formed respectively in the opposite inner surfaces of the mating connector, and communicate directly with the guide grooves, respectively, and each of the engagement grooves has an engagement surface with which the associated engagement projection is brought into sliding engagement when fitting the connector into the mating connector by pivotally moving the lever, so that the engagement surface serves as a supporting point.
Thus, in this invention, each engagement projection is formed on such an area of the side surface of the lever that the amount of movement of the engagement projection in a generally-horizontal direction in accordance with the pivotal movement of the lever is larger than the amount of movement of the other end of the lever in a generally-horizontal direction. Therefore, if the lever is pivotally moved, with the connector half fitted in the mating connector, the inner surface of the guide groove prevents the movement of the engagement projection since the
Okabe Toshiaki
Yamashita Tetsuya
Gushi Ross
Paumen Gary F.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
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