Electrical connectors – With indicating or identifying provision – Connection indicating provision
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-11
2001-11-20
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With indicating or identifying provision
Connection indicating provision
C439S157000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06319050
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking mechanism in a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been a connector provided with a lever which is rotatably assembled to either one of female and male housings in order to conduct an easy coupling of the housings. The lever is provided with a cam groove for introducing a mating housing, while the mating housing is provided with a pin projecting therefrom which can be inserted into the cam groove. For coupling both the housings, the lever is rotated with the pin inserted in the cam groove, and the housings are normally engaged with each other when the lever has arrived at a normal position.
However, it has sometimes happened that an operator suspends the rotating operation because he considers by mistake that the normal engagement of both the housings have been completed although the lever has not yet arrived at the normal position. On occurrence of such situation, the housings are left in a half engaged state.
Therefore, in order to be able to detect that the lever has been rotated up to the normal position, there has been proposed a connector having electrical detecting means in Japanese Publication No. JP-A-9-167657 of an unexamined Patent Application. In this connector, a lever and a mating housing are respectively provided with connecting terminals which can be contacted only when the lever has been normally rotated. Lead wires connected to the connecting terminals are guided to an exterior of the connector respectively and connected to a detecting circuit, which will be actuated by an electric signal transmitted according to a contact between both the connecting terminals.
In the connector having such detecting means of an electrical type, it has been necessary to provide a large detecting apparatus including the connecting terminals, lead wires and detecting circuit as described above, and accordingly, a number of components have been required, which results in an increase of manufacturing cost and incurs a large size of the connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has been completed based on the above described circumstances, and its object is to provide a connector in which detection of a locked state can be made with a simple structure.
To achieve the above described object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a locking mechanism in a connector which comprises a connector housing and a member which is relatively displaced with respect to the connector housing, a lock arm and a lock part respectively provided on the connector housing and the member and adapted to engage with each other thereby to hold the connector housing and the member undisplaceably, the lock arm being adapted to be elastically restored and engaged with the lock part, after the lock arm has been flexibly deformed with relative displacement of the connector housing and the member while overriding the lock part, characterized in that a detecting body which can be pushed in a direction of the relative displacement of the connector housing and the member is assembled to either one of the lock arm and the lock part, a guide face for guiding an overriding motion of the lock arm is provided on a tip end of a counterpart of the one to which the detecting body is assembled, the detecting body being abutted against an engaging part of the lock arm or the lock part to which the detecting body is assembled thereby to restrict pushing movement of the detecting body during the displacement of the connector housing and the member, while the engaging part is engaged with the counterpart when both the connector housing and the member have arrived at a position where they are held, whereby the restricted condition of the detecting body is released and the pushing movement of the detecting body is guided along the guide face.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the locking mechanism in the connector as defined in the first aspect, which further comprises a mating connector housing which is engageable with the connector housing, and either one of both the connector housings is provided with a lever which is engaged with the other connector housing as the member and adapted to bring both the connector housings into an engagement by a rotating operation of the lever, characterized in that the lock arm and the lock part are respectively provided on the lever and on either one of both the connector housings, and the detecting body is assembled to the lever, whereby when the lever has been normally rotated, the lock arm and the lock part are engaged with each other to normally engage both the connector housings with each other, and the detecting body is released from the restricted condition and allowed to be moved to be pushed in the same direction as the rotation direction of the lever.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the locking mechanism in the connector as defined in the first or second aspect, wherein when the detecting body is pushed in, it is flexibly deformable while riding on the lock arm and the lock part, and a pushing end of the detecting body is provided with a locking claw which is lockable with an opposite side to the engaging part in the one of the lock arm and the lock part to which the detecting body is assembled.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the detecting body is abutted against the engaging part of the lock arm or the lock part to which the detecting body is assembled while the connector housing and the member are relatively displaced, whereby the pushing movement of the detecting body is restricted. When the connector housing and the member have arrived at the position where they are held, the engaging part which has restricted the movement of the detecting body is engaged with the counterpart, thereby to release the restricted state of the detecting body. By further pushing the detecting body in this state, the detecting body will be guided along the guide face of the counterpart and the pushing movement of the same will be allowed.
In other words, whether the connector housing and the member are held undisplaceably or not can be detected by whether or not the detecting body can be pushed in.
Because this detecting body has a simple structure as compared with the detecting apparatus of the electrical type in the conventional case, it is possible to impart a lock detecting function to the connector at a low cost while keeping the connector in a small size. Moreover, because both the riding motion of the lock arm on the lock part and the pushing movement of the detecting body can be guided by the single guide face, a compact structure will be realized.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the lever corresponds to the member defined in the first aspect, the rotation direction of the lever corresponds to the relatively displacing direction of the member with respect to the connector housing.
Because the operation of pushing the detecting body can be naturally incorporated in the operation of rotating the lever, there is no need of adding a particular operation as the detecting operation of the detecting body, and workability will not be sacrificed.
According to the third aspect of the invention, by means of the locking claw of the detecting body, the engaged state of the lock arm and the lock part can be doubly locked.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5135410 (1992-08-01), Kawase et al.
patent: 5174786 (1992-12-01), Kato et al.
patent: 5997321 (1999-12-01), Nakata et al.
patent: 1-166977 (1989-11-01), None
patent: 2-150776 (1990-12-01), None
Kihira Souji
Miyazaki Sho
Autonetworks Technologies Ltd.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Patel Tulsidas
Prasad Chandrika
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