Lever partial locking construction provided in a container for a level connector

A partial lock portion 11c is provided on an inner surface of a connector receptacle 11 provided in a container 10 for a lever connector. A lever 12 is rotatably mounted on the connector housing 13, and is formed with a lock portion 12a thereon. When the lever 12 is inclined in one direction, the lock portion 12a of the lever 12 is partially locked with the partial lock portion 11c of the container 10. When the lever 12 inclined in the other direction, the connector housing 13 is accommodated in the receptacle 11 with the lock portion 11c of the lever 12 partially locked with a partial lock portion 13a of the connector housing 13.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a lever partial locking construction 
provided in a container for a lever connector and is particularly designed 
to partially lock the lever to prevent its movement regardless of the 
direction in which the lever is inclined when the connector is 
accommodated. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Conventionally, a plurality of connectors used in an automotive wiring 
harness are accommodated in a container. The container is secured to a 
large electrical connection box via a bracket. In recent years, the 
connectors for an automotive vehicle have had a multitude of contacts, and 
thereby have become larger. Accordingly, a large force has become 
necessary to couple these connectors with their mating connectors. Thus, 
in many cases, a lever connector is employed in which a lever on one 
connector housing is rotated to couple one connector with the other 
connector. 
In the prior art lever connector, as shown in FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), a 
U-shaped lever 3 is rotatably mounted on the outer surface of one 
connector housing 2A. In a partial lock position with the connector 
housing 2A shown in FIG. 5(A), a lock projection 3a provided on the lever 
3 is engaged with a partial lock slot 2A-a formed in the outer surface of 
the connector housing 2A. 
The connector housing 2A is fully connected with another connector housing 
2B by rotating the lever 3. In this fully connected condition, the lock 
projection 3a of the lever 3 is locked by the engagement of a lock portion 
2B-a on the connector housing 2B. 
The connector housing 2A provided with the lever 3 may be accommodated in a 
container 5 as shown in FIG. 6. If the lock projection 3a of the lever 3 
is engaged with the partial lock groove 2A-a, there is no likelihood that 
the lever 3 inadvertently moves inside the container 5. However, depending 
upon a shipment condition required by a car manufacturer, there are cases 
where the lever 3 should be inclined to a side (X) opposite to the side 
where it can be partially locked with the connector housing 3. 
In the case that the lever 3 is accommodated in the container 5 with the 
lever 3 inclined to the side where it cannot be partially locked with the 
connector housing 2A, the lever 3 is free to move in a direction of the 
arrow of FIG. 6 and may move during shipment since the lever 3 is not 
partly locked. Accordingly, the lever may be damaged. 
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an 
object thereof is to partially lock a lever in the case that the lever is 
accommodated in a container, while being inclined in such a direction that 
it cannot be partially locked with a connector housing. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention, there is provided a lever partial locking 
construction in a container for a lever connector. The lever connector 
comprises a connector housing, and the container is formed with a 
connector receptacle for at least partially receiving or containing the 
connector housing of the lever connector. 
A lever is movably mounted on the connector housing of the lever connector, 
and a lock portion is provided on the lever. The lever partial locking 
portion of the invention is at a location on the container for engaging 
the lock portion of the lever. 
The connector housing is arrangeable or can be accommodated at least 
partially in the connector receptacle of the container with the lever 
moved to a first position, such that the lock portion of the lever is 
partially locked or engaged with the partial lock portion of the 
container. 
In the case of accommodating in the receptacle with the lever moved, in 
particular inclined, in such a direction that it cannot be partially 
locked with the connector housing, since the partial lock portion is 
provided in the connector receptacle of the container, the lever is 
positioned and partially locked in the container only by engaging the lock 
portion of the lever with this partial lock portion. 
The connector housing of the lever connector also may include a partial 
lock portion, as had been included in the prior art. The lock portion of 
the lever may be locked with the partial lock portion of the connector 
housing when and if the lever can be rotated into a second position. Since 
the lock portion of the lever which is lockable with the partial lock 
portion of the connector housing already is used in the prior art, the 
invention can be easily realized by using an already existing lever and 
providing the partial lock portion on the connector receptacle of the 
container. Thus, the lever can be partially locked in either a first 
position or second position depending on constraints or conveniences of a 
particular installation. 
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the lever is 
moved to the second position, the connector housing is held in the 
connector receptacle with the lock portion of the lever partially locked 
or engaged with a connector housing partial lock portion of the connector 
housing. 
The lever may be pivotably or rotatably mounted about a support shaft on 
the connector housing. Further, the lock portion may be provided on an 
inner surface of the connector receptacle. The partial lock portion may be 
capable of elastic deflection to be movable on the connector receptacle. 
The partial lock portion further may be formed with a partial lock slot to 
be engaged with a lock projection formed on the lever. Most preferably, 
one or more lock claws are provided on the connector receptacle, in 
particular on inner surfaces thereof. The lock claws preferably are 
engageable with one or more lock slots provided on the connector housing 
when the connector housing is accommodated in the receptacle. 
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a 
lever partial locking construction provided in a container for a lever 
connector. The lever partial locking construction comprises: a partial 
lock portion provided on an inner surface of a connector receptacle in a 
container for a lever connector, and a lock portion provided on a lever 
rotatably mounted on a connector housing. The connector housing is 
accommodated in the receptacle with the lever inclined in one direction 
while the lock portion is partially locked with the partial lock portion. 
As is clear from the above description, the partial lock portion is 
provided on the inner surface of the connector receptacle of the 
container. Accordingly, in the case that the lever needs to be inclined in 
a first direction and cannot be partially locked with the connector 
housing, the lever can be held positioned by engaging the lock portion of 
the lever with the partial lock portion provided on the inner surface of 
the receptacle. 
When the lever is inclined in the other direction, the connector housing is 
held in the receptacle with the lock portion thereof partially locked with 
a partial lock portion of the connector housing. 
In the case that the lever needs to be inclined in the opposite or second 
direction, it is sufficient to lock the lock portion of the lever with the 
partial lock portion preferably provided on the outer surface of the 
connector housing. Accordingly, the lever can be partially locked 
regardless of which direction the lever is inclined. Thus, the lever does 
not move before the lever connector is coupled with a mating connector and 
the inadvertent rotation of the lever which may interfere and damage outer 
members can be prevented. 
Further, since the lock portion of the lever used is a lock portion 
provided also in prior art lever connectors, the invention can be realized 
easily without increasing production costs by using an already existing 
lever and by providing only the partial lock portion in the connector 
receptacle of the container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a container 10 is provided with two container 
receptacles 11, 21. A connecter housing 13 is accommodated in the 
receptacle 11, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The connecting housing 13 has a 
lever 12 mounted thereon. 
The container 10 is unitarily or integrally made, e.g. of a resin. The 
container 10 has open opposite ends and is formed with an outer wall 10a 
and a partition wall 10b. Brackets 10c are used to secure the container 10 
with an electrical connection box. The brackets 10c are provided on the 
outer surface, in particular of one side part of the outer wall 10a as 
shown in FIG. 1. 
The receptacle 11 is enclosed by the outer wall 10a and the partition wall 
10b and preferably has open upper and lower ends. The receptacle 11 is 
formed such that a configuration defined by the inner surfaces thereof 
substantially conforms to a configuration defined by the outer surfaces of 
a connector housing 13 and its horizontal cross section is substantially 
rectangular. The height of the walls enclosing the receptacle 11 is 
preferably substantially the same as that of the connector housing 13, so 
that all outer side surfaces of the connector housing 13 are covered by 
the connector receptacle 11 when the connector housing 13 is accommodated 
in the receptacle 11. 
In the connector receptacle 11, elastic lock portions 11d have their bottom 
portions connected with lateral inner surfaces 11a, 11b with respect to an 
insertion and withdrawal direction A (FIG. 2) of the connector in and from 
the connector receptacle 11. The lateral inner surfaces 11a and 11b are 
substantially opposed to each other at a side substantially opposite to 
the bracket 10c, and project preferably upward therefrom. The lock 
portions 11d are preferably each formed with a partial lock slot 11c. 
The positions of the partial lock slots 11c of the lock portions 11d are 
set such that lock portions 12a of the lever 12 are engaged with the 
partial lock slots 11c when the lever 12 mounted on the connector housing 
13 is inclined to the left of FIG. 4 after the connector housing 13 is 
accommodated in the connector receptacle 11. 
A notch 11f is formed in the left outer wall of the connector, thereby 
lowering the upper surface thereof, and ribs 11g, 11h project from the 
front and rear walls at the substantially opposite sides of the notch 11f. 
Lock claws 11j, 11m which engage lock slots 13a of the connector housing 13 
to fix the connector housing 13, are provided on front and rear 
(corresponding to left and right sides in FIG. 1) inner surfaces 11e, 11k 
of the connector receptacle 11 with respect to the insertion and 
withdrawal direction A. The lock claws 11j and 11m engage lock slots 13a 
of the connector housing 13 to fix the connector housing 13 in the 
connector receptacle 11. 
The connector housing 13 on which the lever 12 is mounted is inserted into 
the connector receptacle 11 of the container 10 through an insertion 
opening, in particular a bottom end opening. At this time, the lever 12 is 
rotated about a support shaft 14 to an insertion position, in particular a 
substantially upright position so as to enable the insertion into the 
receptacle 11. When the connector housing 13 is accommodated in the 
receptacle 11, the lock claws 11j, 11m are engaged with the lock slots 13a 
of the connector housing 13. 
It is also necessary to partially lock the lever 12 mounted on the 
connector housing 13 fixed in the receptacle 11 so as not to move. At this 
time, the lever 12 is inclined to the left as shown in FIG. 4 (direction 
L) if it cannot rest on the bracket 10c. 
Along this inclining direction, a leading end 12b of the lever 12 is 
inserted into the notch 11f and have its opposite sides protected by the 
ribs 11g, 11h. In this state, the leading end 12b of the lever 12 is 
strongly pushed to come into contact with the notch 11f. As a result, the 
lock projections 12a of the lever 12 are inserted into the partial lock 
slots 11c of the lock portions 11d on the inner surfaces of the connector 
receptacle 11. Consequently the lever 12 is partially locked in the 
container 10. The lever 12 is held in this position and is not freely 
movable. 
On the other hand, in the case that the lever 12 is inclined to the right 
of FIG. 4 (direction R) where the bracket 10c is provided, i.e. in a 
direction opposite to the above inclining direction, the lever 12 is 
partially locked by inserting its lock projections 12a into partial lock 
slots 13c formed in the outer surfaces of the connector housing 13. 
As explained above, the lock projections 12a of the lever 12 can be engaged 
either with the partial lock slots 11c of the container 10 when the lever 
12 is inclined to the left, or with the partial lock slots 13c of the 
connector housing 13 when the lever 12 is inclined to the right. Therefore 
the lever 12 can be partially locked using the lock projections 12a 
regardless of whether it is inclined to the left or to the right. 
The preceding embodiment was described with respect to a lever being 
rotatably or pivotably supported on the connector housing. However also a 
substantially linearly movable lever may be adopted.