Connector structure

Abstract: A hood 11 for a female connector 30 is provided with slide members 13 arranged to be slid in a reciprocative manner. Guide pins 44 of a male connector 40 are engaged with guide grooves 14 provided for the slide members 13. When the slide members 13 are slid in the forward direction, the male connector 40 is introduced into the female connector 30 so that the two connectors are connected to each other. Moreover, when the slide members 13 are slid in the returning direction, the two connectors are separated from each other. The hood 11 of the female connector 30 is provided with guide recesses 12 for slidably accommodating the slide members 13. The tops of side walls 11g and 11i of the guide recesses 12 are connected to each other by bridging ribs 19. Thus, inclination of the side walls 11g and 11i is prevented. As a result, increase in the slide resistance of the slide member 13 caused from the inclination of the walls towards one another can be prevented.

Description: The present invention relates to a structure for connecting connectors to each other structured to reciprocative and sliding a slide member so that multipole male and female connectors are connected to each other or separated from each other. Conventional structures for connecting and separating connectors by sliding a slide member have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-203581, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-123681 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-319271. Fig. 5 shows a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-203581, in which a slide member 62 is inserted into openings 61 formed in the upper and lower portions of the side wall of a female connector 60. The slide member 62 is formed into a U-shape facing side and having a pair of upper and lower slide plates 63 which are connected to each other. Each of the slide plates 63 has a guide groove 64. A guide pin 66 formed on each of the upper and lower surfaces of a male connector 65 is engaged to the guide groove 64. When the slide member 62 is slid in the above-mentioned engaged state, the male connector 65 can be introduced into the female connector 60. Since the connectors 60 and 65 are connected to each other owning to the introduction, the multipole connectors can electrically be connected to each other. Fig. 6 shows a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-123681 and incorporating a slide member 71 in which a male connector (not shown) is inserted so as to be held and which has a plurality of guide grooves 71b; a connector housing 70 constituted by a stationary member 72 for slidably supporting the slide member 71; an operation lever 74 rotatively supported in a pair of elongated holes 71c formed at ends of the two side walls 71a through a support shaft 73; a female connector 76 having a plurality of cam projections 77 arranged to be engaged in the two side walls 71a of the slide member 71 and accommodated in guide grooves 71b of the two side walls 71a; and a cover member 78 having a lower end to which the female connector 76 is joined and provided with an engaging projection 79 to which each of engaging projections 74b provided on the two sides of a leading end 74a of the operation lever 74 is engaged/separated and which is formed in the substantially central portion on each of the side surface. With the above-mentioned structure, the cover member 78 is placed on the connector housing 70, and then the cam projections 77 of the female connector 76 positioned below the cover member 78 are inserted into notches 72a of the stationary member 72 and the guide grooves 71b of the slide member 71. When the cam projections 77 are moved along the guide grooves 71b of the slide member 71, the cover member 78 is moved toward the stationary member 72. When the operation lever 74 is rotated downwards, the slide member 71 is moved horizontally. Simultaneously, the cover member 78 and the female connector 76 are moved downwards toward the stationary member 72. Thus, a male connector (not shown) which is held by the connector housing 70 and the female connector 76 adjacent to the cover member 78 are connected to each other. Fig. 7 shows a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-319271 and incorporating male connectors 81 which have latches 81a formed on the upper surface thereof; a connector holder 82 having latch grooves 82a to which the latches 81a of the male connectors 81 are engaged; a female connector 84 to which the connector holder 82 is engaged; and a slide member 85 which is slidably inserted into the female connector 84. The slide member 85 is formed into a U-shape facing side constituted by connecting a pair of slide plates 87 to each other. A guide groove 86 is formed in each of opposite surfaces of the slide plates 87. Guide pins 83 arranged to be engaged to the guide grooves 86 are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the connector holder 82. Moreover, openings 84a into which the slide plates 87 of the slide member 85 are inserted are formed in the side wall of the female connector 84. With the above-mentioned structure, the latches 81a are engaged to the latch grooves 82a of the connector holder 82 so that the male connectors 81 are inserted into the connector holder 82. Then, the connector holder 82 is inserted into the inlet portion of the female connector 84, and then the slide member 85 is inserted into the female connector 84 so that the guide pins 83 and the guide grooves 86 are engaged. When the slide member 85 is slid in the above-mentioned state, the connector holder 82 can be introduced into the female connector 84 so as to be connected. However, the above-mentioned conventional structures encounter a warp or inclination of the slide member, the side wall of the female connector for supporting the slide operation of the slide plate or the side wall of the stationary member, thus causing close contact with the slide member to be made or undesirably bitten. Since slide resistance when the slide member is slid is enlarged in the above-mentioned case, great operating force is required to slide the slide member. Therefore, there arises a problem in that the sliding operation cannot easily be performed. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure for connecting connectors which is capable of preventing enlargement of the slide resistance of a slide member arranged to be slid to connect male and female connectors to each other and improving operability. According to WO-A-9632761 there is provided a connector structure comprising: a male connector and a female connector; a pair of reciprocative and slidable slide members provided on one of the male and the female connectors; a guide groove provided on each slide member; a guide pin provided on each side of the other connector, for engagement with at respective guide groove; and guide recesses in the one connector for slidably accommodating the slide members, each guide recess having a pair of side walls connected to each other by a bridging rib. The present invention is characterised in that the slide members are arranged to move in opposite directions to each other so that the other connector is introduced into the one connector provided with the slide members to establish the connection between the two connectors, and the two connectors are separated from each other when the slide members are returned. The slide member is accommodated in the guide recess so that the slide members can slide in a reciprocative manner in the guide recess. Thus, the sliding operation enables the connector to be introduced into the other connector or the two connectors to be separated from each other. The opened ends of the two side walls of the guide recess are connected to each other by the bridging rib to prevent inward warp and inclination of the two side walls. Therefore, close contact and biting of the two side walls by the slide member in the guide recess can be prevented. As a result, enlargement of the slide resistance of the slide member can be prevented. Since the slide member is therefore able to smoothly slide as described above, enlargement of the operating force for connecting the male and female connectors to each other can be prevented. Plural bridging ribs may be formed spaced apart from each other in a lengthwise direction of the two side walls. Therefore, the guide pin of the other connector can be introduced between the bridging ribs to be engaged to the guide groove of the slide member in the guide recess. Therefore, the engagement between the guide pin and the guide groove is not obstructed. Since the bridging ribs are not formed to correspond to the overall length of each of the two side walls, enlargement of the weight caused from formation of the bridging rib can be prevented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before male and female connectors of a structure for connecting connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention are connected to each other; Fig. 2 (A) is a diagram showing a slide member which is viewed from the guide groove and Fig. 2 (B) is an enlarged view showing portion K shown in Fig. 2 (A); Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view showing the operation of the bridge ribs according to the embodiment; Fig. 4 (A) is a cross sectional view showing a structure having no bridge rib and Fig. 4 (B) is a cross sectional view showing a problem which arises when the bridge rib is not provided. Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional structure; Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing another conventional structure; and Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing another conventional structure. Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure for connecting connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention. The structure for connecting connectors according to this embodiment incorporates a female connector 30 (either connector) and a male connector 40 (another connector) each of which is made of synthetic resin and a hood assembly 10. The male connector 40 is introduced into the female connector 30 through the hood assembly 10. The hood assembly 10 incorporates a hood 11 formed into a hollow square shape having the rear surface to which the female connector 30 is connected. The male connector 40 is inserted into an opening 11b formed in the front surface of the hood assembly 10. Thus, the hood 11 also serves as the housing for the female connector 30. Moreover, the hood assembly 10 incorporates guide recesses 12 corresponding to the upper and lower portions of the hood 11; and a pair of slide members 13 arranged to be inserted through a pair of insertion openings 11c formed in the upper and lower portions of a lengthwise-directional end wall (a right-hand wall) of the hood 11 so as to be slid in a reciprocative manner in the guide recesses 12. In addition, an operation lever 20 is provided which slides the slide members 13 in a reciprocative manner to connect the multipole two connectors 30 and 40 to each other or separate the same from each other, the operation lever 20 being made of synthetic resin. The inside portion of an opening 11b formed in the front surface of the hood 11 is, by a partition wall 11d, sectioned into two male-connector accommodating chambers. The pair of the upper and lower guide recesses 12 of the hood 11 are provided with a pair of step portions 12a for holding thin-wall portions of the two side ends of the pair of the slide members 13. The pair of the slide members 13 are slid in a reciprocative manner in the opposite directions in the pair of the guide recesses 12. A lower wall 11f and an upper wall 11h of the hood 11 are formed opposite to each other. Two side walls 11g having opened upper ends are integrally stood erect over the two sides of the lower wall 11f of the hood 11. A portion between the two side walls 11g is formed into the lower guide recess 12. Opened ends of the two side walls 11g of the lower wall 11f are connected to each other by bridge ribs 19. The bridge ribs 19 extend in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the slide members 13. A plurality of the bridge ribs 19 are formed apart from one another in the lengthwise direction of the two side walls 11g. Also the upper wall 11h of the hood 11 is structured similarly such that two side walls 11i having opened lower ends are integrally stood erect over the two sides. The space between the two side walls 11i is formed into the upper guide recess 12. Opened ends of the two side walls 11i of the upper wall 11h extend in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the slide members 13. Moreover, the foregoing opened ends are connected to each other through the plural bridge ribs 19 formed apart from one another. As described above, the two side walls 11g and two side walls 11i of the upper and lower guide recesses 12 are connected to one another by the bridge ribs 19. Thus, inward warp and inclination of the side walls 11g and 11i can be prevented. Thus,close contact and biting of the side walls 11g and 11i with respect to the slide members 13 in the guide recesses 12 can be prevented. A plurality of cut guides 11e are provided for upper and lower side walls 11g and 11i of the front surface of the hood 11. The cut guides 11e are formed at positions opposite to introducing groove 14a of each of guide grooves 14 of the pair of the slide members 13. The plural guide grooves 14 inclined to make a predetermined angle from a direction in which each of the slide members 13 is inserted are provided for opposite surfaces of the pair of the slide members 13. As indicated with a solid line and an alternate long and short dash line shown in Fig. 2 (A), the directions of inclination of the guide grooves 14 of the upper slide member 13 and the guide grooves 14 of the lower slide member are opposite to each other. As shown in Fig. 2 (A), each of the guide grooves 14 has an introducing groove 14a opened at an end and formed substantially perpendicular to the end line, an inclined groove 14b continued from the introducing groove 14a and an end groove 14c continued from the inclined groove 14b and formed in parallel with the lengthwise direction of the slide members 13. As shown in Fig. 2 (B), temporary engaging means 15 for temporarily engaging guide pins 44 to be described later are provided for ends of introducing grooves 14a which are inlet portions for the guide pins 44 of the guide grooves 14. The temporary engaging means 15 incorporates a flexible projection 15a integrally projecting to be in parallel with the introducing groove 14a and a pair of cut portions 15b formed on the two sides of the flexible projection 15a. The operation lever 20 causes the pair of the slide members 13 to slide in a reciprocative manner in opposite directions. The operation lever 20 is integrally formed into a U-shape facing side by a flat portion 21 and two side walls 22 and 22' extending downwards from the two sides of the flat portion 21. Each of bases 22a of the two side walls 22 and 22' is formed into a substantially rhombic shape. A rotation center hole 23 is formed at the center of the base portion 22a. A support shaft 17 on the two sides of a lever joining portion 16 projecting between the pair of upper and lower insertion openings 11c of the hood 11 is inserted into the rotation center hole 23. Therefore, the operation lever 20 is supported rotatively in the vertical direction by dint of the support shaft 17. A pair of elongated holes 24 are formed at opposite corners of each base portion 22a of the two side walls 22 and 22' of the operation lever 20 to interpose the rotation center hole 23. A cylindrical joining projection 13a of each of the pair of the upper and lower slide members 13 is inserted into each of the pair of the elongated holes 24. When the operation lever 20 is vertically rotated, the pair of the upper and lower slide members 13 slide in a reciprocative manner in opposite directions. The inner surface of the flat portion 21 of the operation lever 20 is wider than the upper wall 11h of the hood 11. Moreover, the two side walls 22 and 22' of the operation lever 20 project downwards to interpose the two side walls 11i of the upper wall 11h of the hood 11. A leading end 22b of the operation lever 20 reaches a substantially central portion of the upper wall 11h of the hood 11. Moreover, a rectangular engaging hole 25 is formed at the leading end of the side wall 22 (adjacent to the male connector 40) of the two side walls 22 and 22' of the operation lever 20. An engaging projection 18 arranged to be engaged/separated to and from the engaging hole 25 is integrally formed to project over the front surface of the upper wall 11h of the hood 11 opposite to the engaging hole 25. A pair of box-shape connector housings 41 are inserted into the opening 11b of the hood 11 from a direction perpendicular to the movement direction of each of the slide members 13. A plurality of guide pins 44 integrally project over the upper and lower surfaces of each of the connector housings 41, the guide pins 44 being arranged to be received by the cut guides 11e of the hood 11 and inserted movably into the guide grooves 14 of the slide members 13 when the two connectors 30 and 40 are connected to each other. An electric wire is connected to a terminal inserted into the male connector 40. A portion of the electric wire exposed to the outside over the male connector 40 is covered with a cover 46. According to this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, the male connector 40 is inserted into the hood 11 from a position opposite to the female connector 30 in a state in which the hood assembly 10 has been mounted on the female connector 30. Then, each of the guide pins 44 of the male connector 40 is inserted into the introducing groove 14a of the guide groove 14 of each of the slide members 13 through each of the cut guides 11e of the hood 11. When the operation lever 20 is rotated downwards in the above-mentioned state, the slide members 13 slide in a reciprocative manner in the upper and lower guide recesses 12 of the hood 11. As a result, each of the guide pins 44 is moved from the introducing groove 14a to the end groove 14c of each of the guide grooves 14 through the inclined groove 14b. Thus, the male connector 40 is introduced into the hood 11 so that the two connectors 30 and 40 are connected to each other. The state of connection between the multipole connectors, that is, between the female connector 30 and the male connector 40 is reliably locked because the engaging projection 18 of the hood 11 is engaged to the engaging hole 25 of the side wall 22 of the operation lever 20. When the operation lever 20 is rotated upwards, each of the slide members 13 slide in a reciprocative manner in each of the upper and lower guide recesses 12 of the hood 11. Thus, each of the guide pins 44 is moved from the end groove 14c of each of the guide grooves 14 to the introducing groove 14a through the inclined groove 14b. As a result, the male connector 40 is separated from the inside portion of the hood 11 so that the two connectors 30 and 40 are separated from each other. When the two connectors 30 and 40 are connected to each other and separated from each other, the slide members 13 slide in a reciprocative manner in the upper and lower guide recesses 12. The side walls 11g and 11i on the two sides of the guide recesses 12 have the opened ends which are connected to each other by the bridge ribs 19. Therefore, inward warp and inclination of the side walls 11g and 11i can be prevented. As a result, close contact and biting of the side walls 11g and 11i with respect to the slide members 13 in the guide recesses 12 can be prevented. Fig. 3 shows the upper wall 11h of the hood 11. Since the two opened ends of the two side walls 11i are connected to each other by the bridge ribs 19, warp of the two side walls 11i and inclination of the same toward the guide recesses 12 can be prevented. If the bridge ribs 19 are not provided as shown in Fig. 4 (A), the two side walls 11i are easily inclined toward the guide recesses 12, as shown in Fig. 4 (B). As a result of the inclination, the two side walls 11i are bitten by the slide members 13 in the guide recesses 12, causing the slide resistance of the slide members 13 to be enlarged. As a result, the operation of the slide members 13 is obstructed. Since the bridge ribs are provided, enlargement of the slide resistance of the slide members 13 can be prevented. Therefore, the slide members 13 can smoothly be slid so that enlargement of the operating force for connecting the two connectors 30 and 40 to each other is prevented. As a result, satisfactory operability can be maintained. Since the bridge ribs 19 are formed apart from one another in the lengthwise direction of the side walls 11g and 11i, the guide pins 44 of the male connector 40 can be introduced between the bridge ribs 19 so as to be engaged to the guide grooves 14 of the slide members 13 in the guide recesses 12. Therefore, the provided bridge ribs 19 do not obstruct the required engagement between the guide pins 44 and the guide grooves 14. Since the bridge ribs 19 are not formed on the overall length of the side walls 11g and 11i, enlargement of the weight caused from provision of the bridge ribs 19 can be prevented satisfactorily. Although the above-mentioned embodiment has the structure that the engaging projection 18 is provided for the hood 11 and the engaging hole 25 is provided for the operation lever 20, the engaging hole may be provided for the hood and the engaging projection may be provided for the operation lever. As described above, according to the aspect of the present invention, the opened ends of the two side walls of the guide recess are connected to each other by the bridge ribs. Therefore, inward warp and inclination of the two side walls can be prevented. Therefore, enlargement of the slide resistance of the slide members can be prevented. As a result, the slide members are able to smoothly slide as desired. Thus, enlargement of the operating force for connecting the male and female connectors can be prevented. According to the aspect of the present invention, the bridge ribs are formed apart from one another. Therefore, the bridge ribs do not obstruct the engagement between the guide pins and the guide grooves. Moreover, enlargement of the weight caused from provision of the bridge ribs can satisfactorily be prevented.

Claims: A connector structure comprising: a male connector (40) and a female connector (30); a pair of reciprocative and slidable slide members (13) provided on one of the male and the female connectors (40,30); a guide groove (14) provided on each slide member; a guide pin (44) provided on each side of the other connector, for engagement with a respective guide groove; and guide recesses (12) in the one connector for slidably accommodating the slide members (13), each guide recess having a pair of side walls (11g,11i) connected to each other by a bridging rib (19); and characterised in that the slide members are arranged to move in opposite directions to each other so that the other connector is introduced into the one connector provided with the slide members (13) to establish the connection between the two connectors (30,40), and the two connectors are separated from each other when the slide members (13) are returned. A connector structure according to claim 1, wherein plural bridging ribs (19) are formed spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the side walls (11g,11i).

Inventors: SUGIYAMA OSAMU, TSUJI MASANORI, SUGIYAMA, OSAMU, TSUJI, MASANORI, Sugiyama, Osamu, c/o Yazaki Parts Co., Ltd., TSUJI, MASANORI, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO., LTD.
Applicants: YAZAKI CORP, YAZAKI CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13