Low insertion force connector assembly

Abstract: In a low insertion force connector assembly in which cam pins (11) protruded from upper and lower walls of a housing (10a) of a male connector (10) are guided by cam grooves formed in upper and lower walls of a slider which are confronted with each other, so that the male connector (10) is inserted into a female connector, the cam pins (11) are provided in the housing (10a) of the male connector (10) in such a manner that the cam pins (11) are popped in and out of the housing (10a) freely and elastically.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a low insertion force connector assembly which has a slider to connect male and female connectors to each other with a low insertion force, and more particularly to a low insertion force connector assembly in which a cam pin protruding from the housing side wall of a male connector is positively protected from external force. 2. Description of the Related Art A multi-pole connector has a number of terminals, and therefore it is necessary to apply a great force to connect male and female connectors to each others; that is, it is rather difficult to connect them to each other and to disconnect them from each other. In view of the foregoing, a number of kinds of low insertion force connector assemblies have been proposed in the art which have low insertion force (LIF) mechanisms. In a typical example of those low insertion force connector assemblies, a slider is operated to perform the connection or disconnection thereof. A conventional low insertion force connector assembly of this type has been disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 4-319271. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional low insertion force connector assembly. The low insertion force connector assembly comprises: male connectors 111 and 112 each of which has a number of female terminal; a rectangular-frame-shaped holder 120 which accommodates the male connectors 111 and 112; a female connector 130 into which the male connectors 111 and 112 accommodated in the holder 120 are inserted; and a slider 140 which is used to achieve the connection and disconnection of the male connectors 111 and 112 and the female connector 130. Four cam pins 121, 121, 121 and 121 protrude from the upper and lower walls of the holder 120, and slider insertion holes 131, 131, 131 and 131 are formed in both (right and left) side walls of the female connector 130, and cam grooves 141, 141, 141 and 141 are formed in the upper and lower walls of the slider 140 in such a manner that they are engaged with the cam pins 121, 121, 121 and 121 of the holder 120, respectively. In the low insertion force connector assembly thus constructed, the slider 140 is inserted into the female connector 130 to a predetermined position (depth), and the cam grooves 141 of the slider 140 and the cam pins 121 of the holder 120 are positioned. When, under this condition, the slider 140 is further inserted into the female connector 130, the cam pins 121 of the holder 120 are guided by the cam grooves 141 of the slider 140, respectively, so that the male connectors 111 and 112 accommodated in the holder 120 are inserted into the female connector 130. As is apparent from the above description, with the low insertion force connector assembly, the insertion of the slider 140 makes it possible to insert the male connectors 111 and 112 into the female connector 130 with low force. In contrast, when it is required to disconnect the male connectors 111 and 112 from the female connector 130, the slider 140 is pulled out of the female connector 130. The above-described conventional low insertion force connector assembly suffers from the following difficulties: The small cam pins 121 and the upper and lower walls of the hole 120 are formed as one unit by molding synthetic resin. Hence, during transportation of the manufactured low insertion force connector assembly, the cam pins 121 may be crushed or bent by external force. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a low insertion force connector assembly which is simple in construction and positively protects the cam pins from being bent or broken. In order to achieve the foregoing object, the invention provides a low insertion force connector assembly in which cam pins, which protrude from upper and lower walls of a housing of a male connector, are guided by cam grooves formed in upper and lower walls of a slider which are confronted with each other, so that the male connector is inserted into a female connector, wherein the cam pins are elastically supported so that they are held projected from the housing, but are allowed to vertically sink into the housing. Further, in the low insertion force connector assembly which each cam pin comprises a cylindrical body, and a flange extending from a bottom of the cylindrical body; accommodating grooves are formed in the upper and lower walls of the housing of the male connector, each accommodating groove being open at one end thereof, with the other end thereof provided as a semi-circular receiving portion which equals the external form of the cam pins; elastic members which elastically support the cam pins are accommodated in the accommodating grooves; and stoppers, each of which has a semi-circular receiving portion which is equal in external form to the cam pins, are fitted from open ends into the accommodating grooves to hold the cam pins in the accommodating grooves. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1(a) is an exploded perspective view of a male connector forming a low insertion force connector assembly which constitutes an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view of the male connector which has been assembled. FIG. 2 is a perspective view for a description of the pop in-and-out operation of cam pins of the male connector. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional low insertion force connector assembly with a slider. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A low insertion force connector assembly, which constitutes an embodiment of this invention, will be described with the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1(a) is an exploded perspective view of a male connector which is a part of the low insertion force connector assembly according to the invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view of the male connector which has been assembled. A specific feature of the low insertion force connector assembly of the invention resides in the arrangement of cam pins of the male connector. The assembly has a female connector, and a slider which are equal in design to those of the above-described conventional low insertion force connector assembly. Hence, hereinafter, mainly, only the male connector (the specific feature of the invention) will be described. In FIGs. 1(a) and 1(b), reference numeral 10 designates the male connector. The male connector 10 has a housing 10a whose upper and lower walls have cam pins 11, 11, 11 and 11. Each of the cam pins 11 comprises: a cylindrical body 11a; and a disk-shaped flange 11b extended from the bottom of the cylindrical body 11a. The cam pins 11 are elastically fitted in accommodating grooves 12 formed in the upper and lower walls of the housing 10a through springs 13, respectively. Each of the accommodating grooves 12 is a groove inverted-T-shaped in section which has two widths in correspondence to the body 11a and the flange 11b of the cam pin 11, and has an opening 12a at one end. The other end of each of the accommodating grooves is formed into semi-circular receiving portions 12b and 12c which corresponds to the external forms of the body 11a and the flange 11b of the cam pin 11. Reference numeral 14 designates stoppers. Each of the stoppers 14 is equal in external form to the section of the accommodating groove 12, and is fitted in the groove 12 to hold the cam pin 11 therein. Similarly as in the receiving portions 12b and 12c of each of the accommodating grooves 12, the front end portion of each of the stoppers 14 is formed into semi-circular receiving portions 14a and 14b which correspond in external form to the body 11a and the flange 11b of the cam pin 11. Those receiving portions 14a and 14b are confronted with the receiving portions 12b and 12c of the accommodating groove 12 when the stopper 14 is fitted in the groove 12, thus forming a circular in-and-out hole which is substantially equal in diameter to the body 11a of the cam pin 11 and a slide space which is substantially equal in diameter to the flange 11b of the cam pin 11. In the male connector thus constructed, the cam pins 11 are held protruded from the upper and lower walls of the housing 10a when no external force is applied thereto. When, as shown in FIG. 2, external force P is vertically applied to each of the cam pins 11, the latter 11 is elastically sunk in the accommodating groove 12 with the aid of the elastic force of the spring 13. In this operation, the vertical external force P applied thereto is moderated. Hence, the cam pins 11 are positively protected from the vertical external force P. When, as shown in FIG. 2, external force Q is horizontally applied to each of the cam pins 11, the latter 11 is held protruded as it is. Hence, the male connector is free from the difficulty that the cam pins 11 are sunk in the walls of the housing 10a by the horizontal external force Q which is applied thereto when the cam pins 11 are being guided by the cam grooves. That is, the connection of the male and female connectors with each other can be smoothly achieved. The low insertion force connector assembly has been described; however, the invention is not limited to the embodiment. For instance, the elastic elements supporting the cam pins 11 are not limited to the springs 13; that is, the springs 13 may be replaced with leaf springs or rubber members. In the case where, instead of the springs 13, the leaf springs are employed, the they may be integrated with the rear surfaces of the cam pins 11 when they are formed by molding synthetic resin. As is apparent from the above description, the low insertion force connector assembly of the invention is simple in structure, and its cam pins are positively protected from external force which may be applied thereto during transportation of the connector assembly. Besides, the connection of the male and female connectors with the slider can be achieved smoothly.

Claims: A low insertion force connector assembly in which cam pins (11), which protrude from upper and lower walls of a housing (10a) of a male connector, are guided by cam grooves formed in upper and lower walls of a slider which are confronted with each other, so that the male connector is inserted into a female connector, characterised in that said cam pins (11) are elastically supported so that they are held projected from the housing (10a), but are allowed to vertically sink into the housing (10a). The low insertion force connector assembly of claim 1 wherein each cam pin comprises a cylindrical body (11a), and a flange (11b) extending from a bottom of said cylindrical body (11a), accommodating grooves (12) are formed in the upper and lower walls of the housing (10a) of the male connector, each accommodating groove being open at one end thereof, with the other end thereof provided as a semi-circular receiving portion (12b, 12c) which equals the external form of said cam pins; elastic members (13) which elastically support said cam pins are accommodated in said accommodating grooves (12); and stoppers (14), each of which has a semi-circular receiving portion (14a) which is equal in external form to said cam pins (11), are fitted from open ends into said accommodating grooves (12) to hold said cam pins (11) in said accommodating grooves. The low insertion force connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said elastic members are springs (13).

Inventors: IWAHORI YOSHIHIRO, IWAHORI, YOSHIHIRO, IWAHORI, YOSHIHIRO, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO., LTD.
Applicants: YAZAKI CORP, YAZAKI CORPORATION
Application year: 1998
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13