Abstract:
A connector assembly comprises a connector and a wire guide. The connector has a lock arm. The lock arm includes a lock member for engaging a lock engaging member on a mating connector and a release member for disengaging the lock member from the lock engaging member. The wire cover is mounted to the connector. The wire cover has a wire receiving opening for bunching and guiding a wire toward the connector. The wire cover includes an opening that provides access to the release member. A finger support section is formed on a wall defining the opening. The finger support section faces the connector and the release member.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention relates to a connector assembly including a connector mounted with a wire cover that bunches and guides wires in a predetermined direction. The connector includes a lock arm for disengaging the connector from a mating connector.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     In conventional connector assemblies, wires extend from a front surface of a connector and are fitted to a mating connector at a front surface thereof. The connector has a lock arm that engages with a lock engaging member provided on the mating connector at a time of mating. The lock engaging member is operated by a user&#39;s finger to release the engagement. Some of the connectors additionally include wire covers for bunching and guiding the wires in a predetermined direction.  
         [0003]     One example of a connector assembly including connector and a wire cover is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 9-92378. During disengagement of the connector assembly from a mating connector, the connector is gripped by a user near the mating connector while the user&#39;s finger releases the engagement of the connector from the mating connector by pressing on the lock arm. The recent miniaturization of electrical devices, however, requires the connectors, which are used in the devices, to also be miniaturized. It is therefore difficult if not impossible to grip the connector and press the lock arm without disturbing the wire cover during disengagement.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a connector assembly with a connector and a wire cover that can be miniaturized without reducing the ability to disengage the connector assembly from a mating connector.  
         [0005]     This and other objects are achieved by a connector assembly comprising a connector and a wire guide. The connector has a lock arm. The lock arm includes a lock member for engaging a lock engaging member on a mating connector and a release member for disengaging the lock member from the lock engaging member. The wire cover is mounted to the connector. The wire cover has a wire receiving opening for bunching and guiding a wire toward the connector. The wire cover includes an opening that provides access to the release member. A finger support section is formed on a wall defining the opening. The finger support section faces the connector and the release member.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a connector assembly according to the invention;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2 ( a ) is a top perspective view of a wire cover of the connector assembly of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2 ( b ) is a bottom perspective view of the wire cover;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3 ( a ) is a bottom view of the wire cover;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3 ( b ) is a side view of the wire cover;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4 ( a ) is a top perspective view of a connector of the connector assembly of  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 4 ( b ) is a bottom perspective view of the connector. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a connector assembly  1 . The connector assembly  1  includes a wire cover  11  mounted to a rear surface of a connector  12 . As shown in  FIG. 4 ( a ), the connector includes a housing  122 . The housing  122  has terminal receiving ports  122   b  that accommodate terminals (now shown). The terminals (now shown) are crimped to wires  2  and are electrically connected to mating terminals (not shown) in a mating connector (not shown) that are received in the terminal receiving ports  122 ( b ) when the mating connector (now shown) is fitted to a front surface of the connector  2 .  
         [0014]     As shown in FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( b ), wire cover mounting projections  122   a  extend from top and bottom surfaces of the housing  122 . A guard member  123  extends from the top and bottom surfaces and is formed to protect the wire cover mounting projections  122   a.  A locking groove  122   c , a temporary locking groove  122   d , and a projection  122   e  are formed on a side of the housing  122 . A retainer  124  is arranged on the bottom surface and has apertures  124   b.  The locking groove  122   c  and the temporary locking groove  122   d  confirm the position of the retainer  124  when the terminals (not shown) are inserted into the terminal receiving ports  122   b  from a rear surface of the connector  12 . The retainer  124  moves between a pre-locked position and a locked position.  FIG. 4 ( b ) shows the retainer  124  in a state where the terminals (not shown), which, for example, have a lower wire connection, are in a locked state in the housing  122 . Because the retainer  124  is well known in the art, the retainer  124  and the operation thereof will not be described in greater detail herein.  
         [0015]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the connector  12  has a lock arm  121  provided on a front surface thereof. As shown in  FIG. 4 ( a ), the lock arm  121  includes a release member  121   a , a lock member  121   b , and a resilient arm  121   c.  The lock member  121   b  is formed to engage with a lock engaging member (not shown) on the mating connector (not shown) at the time of mating. The release member  121   a  formed on the resilient arm  121   c  can be formed to be pressed downward to release the engagement of the lock engaging member (not shown) from the lock member  121   b.  The release member  121   a  may be, for example, formed to be operated by a user&#39;s finger to release the engagement thereof.  
         [0016]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the wire cover  11  includes an opening  11   a.  The opening  11   a  is formed so that the user&#39;s finger can access the release member  121   a.  The wires  2  held by the connector  12  can be seen from the opening  11   a.  As shown in  FIG. 2 , a finger support section  111  is formed at a wall facing the connector  12  among walls which define the opening  11   a.  The finger support section  111  has a substantially curved surface, which is recessed along the shape of a thickest part of the user&#39;s finger and supports the user&#39;s finger while accessing the release member  121   a  via the opening  11   a  from the top surface of the connector  12 . As shown in  FIG. 3 ( a ), the wire cover  11  includes a second finger support member  1111 . The second finger support member  1111  has substantially the same shape as the finger support member  111 . The second finger support member  1111  supports the user&#39;s finger when the user&#39;s finger accesses the release member  121   a  of the lock arm  121  from the bottom surface of the connector  2 .  
         [0017]     As shown in  FIG. 2 ( b ), the wire cover  11  has a wire receiving opening  116  through which the wire is inserted. A fixing member  113  extends proximate the wire receiving opening  116  and fixes the wires  2  to the wire receiving opening  116 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , an extension  112  extends from the wire cover  11  and is provided with a through-hole  112   a  for temporarily placing the wire cover  11  in a wire harness state. The wire cover  11  has attachment members  114  formed with mounting aperture  114   a  that correspond to the projections  122   a  of the connector  12 , as shown in FIGS.  2 ( a ),  4 ( a ), and  4 ( b ). As shown in  FIG. 3 ( b ), ribs  115  are formed on an inner surface of the wire cover  11  for reinforcing the wire cover  11 . A mounting section  114  mounts the wire cover  11  to the connector  12 .  
         [0018]     During assembly, the terminals are crimped to the wire  2 . The wire cover  11 , which has the wire extending from the wire receiving opening  116 , is mounted to the connector  12  by engaging the projections  122   a  on the connector  12  with the mounting apertures  114   a  provided on the attachment members  114 . The terminals (not shown) are inserted into the rear side of the connector assembly  1  and are guided in a predetermined direction by the wire cover  11  into the terminal receiving ports  122   b.  Because the connector  12  and the wire cover  11  are reliably engaged at four spots, for example, even if only the wire cover  11  is pulled when the connector assembly  1  is to be removed from the mating connector (now shown), the connector  12  and the wire cover  11  remain engaged.  
         [0019]     Because the wire cover  11  includes the finger support member  111  that supports the user&#39;s finger, the force applied to the wire cover  11  by the user&#39;s finger when the user&#39;s finger accesses the release member  121   a  to remove the connector assembly  1  from the mating connector (not shown), can be effectively utilized as the force removing the connector assembly  1  from the mating connector (not shown). Thus, the force that the user&#39;s finger applies to the wire cover  11  to remove the connector assembly  1  from the mating connector (now shown) can be utilized more effectively. Therefore, according to the connector assembly  1  according to the invention, even when the connector assembly is miniaturized, the connector assembly  1  may be easily removed from the mating connector (not shown) without reducing operability.  
         [0020]     In the illustrated embodiment, the finger support member  111  and the second finger support member  1111  are disposed on the top surface and the bottom surface, respectively, of the wire cover  11 . However, if only the finger support member  111  is included, the effect of the invention is not decreased. Additionally, although the finger support member  111  and the second finger support member  1111  have a substantially curved surface along the thickest part of the user&#39;s finger, the finger support member  111  and the second finger support member  1111  may be any shape capable of supporting the user&#39;s finger.