Patent Publication Number: US-11025005-B1

Title: Lever-type connector

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a lever-type connector. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Conventionally, it has been known that contact wear occurs when a male tab comes into sliding contact with an elastic contact piece of a female terminal during the fitting of a connector. The connector disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4496475 (Patent Document 1 below) is known as a connector provided with countermeasures against this problem. This connector includes a male connector housing having a hood portion that is open forward, and a female connector housing that can be fitted into the hood portion, the female connector housing being provided with a bendable locking arm. A female terminal fitting having an elastic contact piece is accommodated in the female connector housing, and a contact pressure receiving portion that protrudes downward and is configured to push down the elastic contact piece is provided on the lower surface of the locking arm. A locking protrusion is provided on the upper surface of the locking arm. When the female connector housing is fitted into the hood portion, the locking arm is pushed downward while the locking protrusion comes into sliding contact with the opening of the hood portion, and thus the contact pressure receiving portion pushes down the elastic contact piece. If a male tab enters the polygonal tube portion of the female terminal fitting in this state, the male tab does not come into contact with the elastic contact piece, thus making it possible to prevent contact wear. 
     However, with this connector, the female connector housing needs to be provided with an opening through which the contact pressure receiving portion can be inserted. If a water sealing structure is provided on the opening, the overall structure of the connector will become complicated, thus making it difficult to apply this connector to a waterproof connector. 
     To address this, the connector disclosed in JP 2008-218331A (Patent Document 2 below) is known as a connector in which contact wear is suppressed and waterproofing can be achieved. This connector has a sealing member that comes into intimate contact with a hood portion of a male housing and a housing main body portion of a female housing, and a gap between the female housing and the male housing can be sealed with this sealing member. Two protruding pieces that protrude forward are provided on the back wall portion of the male housing, and two bulging portions that protrude laterally are provided on the two sides of a contact piece of a female terminal. The two bulging portions move up on the two protruding pieces immediately before the female housing and the male housing are fitted to each other, and thus a tab comes into contact with a contact portion of the contact piece with high contact pressure, and is connected thereto such that electrical conduction can be established. This configuration makes it possible to suppress contact wear caused by sliding contact of the tab with the contact portion of the contact piece during the fitting. 
     However, although with this connector, contact wear that occurs during the fitting can be suppressed, high contact pressure is applied immediately before the female housing and the male housing are fitted to each other, and thus contact wear still occurs. Therefore, it is difficult to say that it can suppress contact wear. 
     SUMMARY 
     Problems of Patent Documents 1 and 2 are as described above. A connector that can be applied to a waterproof connector and in which contact wear can be suppressed has not been realized up to now. 
     A lever-type connector disclosed in this specification includes: a female terminal that can come into contact with a male terminal held in a male housing; a female housing that internally accommodates the female terminal and can be fitted to the male housing; a contact pressure applying member that is attached to the female housing from a front side in a fitting direction and can be moved between a low contact pressure position at which the female terminal is brought into contact with the male terminal with low contact pressure and a high contact pressure position that is located on a rear side in the fitting direction with respect to the low contact pressure position and at which the female terminal is brought into contact with the male terminal with high contact pressure due to application of contact pressure to the female terminal; a lever that is movably attached to the female housing, moves the male housing in the fitting direction, and moves the contact pressure applying member from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position after the completion of fitting; a first seal that seals a through hole in the female housing through which the contact pressure applying member passes from water; and a second seal that seals a fitting portion where the female housing and the male housing are fitted to each other from water. 
     With this configuration, before the female housing and the male housing are completely fitted to each other, the contact pressure applying member is located at the low contact pressure position, and the female terminal is in contact with the male terminal with low contact pressure, thus making it possible to prevent contact wear. After the female housing and the male housing are completely fitted to each other, the contact pressure applying member is moved to the high contact pressure position by the lever, and thus the female terminal is in contact with the male terminal with high contact pressure. During this period, the fitting operation for fitting the female housing and the male housing to each other remains stopped, thus making it possible to prevent contact wear even when the low contact pressure state changes to the high contact pressure state. 
     The through hole of the female housing can be sealed from water with the first seal, and the fitting portion where the female housing and the male housing are fitted to each other can be sealed from water with the second seal, thus making it possible to apply the lever-type connector to a waterproof connector. 
     The lever-type connector disclosed in this specification may also have a configuration described below. 
     A configuration may also be employed in which the lever includes a cam groove, and the cam groove includes: a fitting track configured to be engaged with a cam pin provided on the male housing and to thereby allow a fitting operation to be performed; and an idling track configured to allow the fitting operation to remain stopped when the lever is continuously moved after the completion of fitting. 
     With this configuration, the cam groove includes the fitting track and the idling track, and therefore, the fitting operation does not proceed even when the lever is continuously moved after the female housing and the male housing are completely fitted to each other using the fitting track, thus making it possible to maintain the female housing and the male housing in the state in which they are completely fitted to each other. 
     A configuration may also be employed in which the lever includes a driving shaft, the contact pressure applying member includes: a driving portion provided with a driving track configured to be engaged with the driving shaft and to thereby allow movement from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position; and a contact pressure applying portion configured to press the female terminal and apply contact pressure, and the driving portion is provided passing through the through hole. 
     With this configuration, the driving portion is arranged at a position separate from the position of the contact pressure applying portion that presses the female terminal, thus making it possible to provide the first seal without being limited by the arrangement of the female terminal. 
     A configuration is employed in which the female housing includes an attachment target portion to which the driving portion is attached, and the driving portion is accommodated in a gap between the attachment target portion and the lever after the female housing and the male housing are completely fitted to each other. 
     With this configuration, the driving portion is accommodated in the gap between the attachment target portion and the lever, thus making it possible to prevent the driving portion from becoming dislodged from the attachment target portion while the driving portion is moving from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position. 
     With the technology disclosed in this specification, a lever-type connector that can be applied to a waterproof connector and with which a low contact pressure state is maintained during fitting and a high contact pressure state is brought about after the fitting can be provided. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view illustrating constituent components of a lever-type connector of Embodiment 1. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which a lever is located at a rotation start position. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which the lever is located at a rotation end position. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which the lever is located at the rotation start position. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which the lever is located at the rotation end position. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a plan view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which the lever is located at a fitting completion position. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a plan view of the lever-type connector, illustrating a state in which the lever is located at a rotation end position. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D in  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 12  is a plan view of the lever-type connector in a state in which the lever is removed, and a contact pressure applying member is located at a low contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 13  is a side view of the lever-type connector in a state in which the lever is removed, and the contact pressure applying member is located at the low contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of the lever-type connector in a state in which the lever is removed, and the contact pressure applying member is located at a high contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 15  is a side view of the lever-type connector in a state in which the lever is removed, and the contact pressure applying member is located at the high contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 16  is a plan view of the lever. 
         FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E in  FIG. 16 . 
         FIG. 18  is a side view of the lever. 
         FIG. 19  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a male terminal has not been connected to a female terminal yet. 
         FIG. 20  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the male terminal is connected to the female terminal, and the contact pressure applying member is located at the low contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 21  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the male terminal is connected to the female terminal, and the contact pressure applying member is located at the high contact pressure position. 
         FIG. 22  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a male terminal has not been connected to the female terminal yet in Embodiment 2. 
         FIG. 23  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the male terminal is connected to the female terminal, and a contact pressure applying member is located at a low contact pressure position in Embodiment 2. 
         FIG. 24  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the male terminal is connected to the female terminal, and the contact pressure applying member is located at a high contact pressure position in Embodiment 2. 
         FIG. 25  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a male terminal is connected to a female terminal, and a contact pressure applying member is located at a high contact pressure position in Embodiment 3. 
         FIG. 26  is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a contact pressure applying member is moved by gear drive in Embodiment 4. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiment 1 
     Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the diagrams shown in  FIGS. 1 to 21 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , a lever-type connector  10  according to embodiment 1 includes two contact pressure applying members  20 , two first seals  30 , a front cover  40 , a second seal  50 , a female housing  60 , a lever  70 , two terminal covers  80 , two shield shells  90 , and two electric wires  100  with a terminal, for example. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , each of the electric wires  100  with a terminal includes doubly coated shielded electric wire  101 , a female terminal  110  connected to an internal conductor included in the shielded electric wire  101 , a grommet  103  and a crimp ring  104  between which an external conductor  91  included in the shielded electric wire  101  and the rear end portion of the shield shell  90  are sandwiched, a third seal  105  that is in intimate contact with the outer circumferential surface of a sheath  102  included in the shielded electric wire  101 , and a back retainer  106  that prevents the dislodgement of the third seal. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the female terminal  110  includes a polygonal tube portion  112  that has an elastic contact piece  111 , and an electric wire connecting portion  114  that has a barrel portion  113  crimped to the internal conductor of the shielded electric wire  101 . A metal plate forming the polygonal tube portion  112  is thinner and harder than a metal plate forming the electric wire connecting portion  114 . The electric wire connecting portion  114  has a terminal connecting portion  115  that is inserted into the polygonal tube portion  112  from the rear side, and this terminal connecting portion  115  can be connected to a male terminal  120  held by a male housing  130 . A busbar made of a conductive metal plate material is used as the male terminal  120  of this embodiment. 
     The elastic contact piece  111  has an overall bulging shape, and extends forward in the form of a cantilever. Specifically, the elastic contact piece  111  is provided so as to be folded back forward from the rear end of a circumferential wall portion  116  included in the polygonal tube portion  112 , and a gap is provided between the front end of the elastic contact piece  111  and the circumferential wall portion  116 . A contact pressure applying portion  23 , which will be described later, can enter this gap from the front side. 
     The terminal connecting portion  115  is arranged opposite to the apex of the elastic contact piece  111 , and has a shape including two rising portions that are lined up in the front-rear direction. These rising portions serve as contact portions that come into contact with the male terminal  120 . The contact portions lined up in the front-rear direction are arranged at two positions that are lined up in the front-rear direction and are symmetrical with respect to the apex of the elastic contact piece  111 . 
     The female terminal  110  is accommodated and held in the terminal cover  80 , and the terminal cover  80  is accommodated and held in the shield shell  90 . The shield shell  90  protrudes to the rear side with respect to the rear end of the terminal cover  80 , and this protruding portion is connected to the external conductor  91  of the shielded electric wire  101 . Specifically, the shield shell  90  and the external conductor  91  of the shielded electric wire  101  are crimped together between the grommet  103  arranged on the inner circumference of the shield shell  90  and the crimp ring  104  arranged on the outer circumference of the shield shell  90 . In addition, the rear end of the crimp ring  104  is adhered to the sheath  102  of the shielded electric wire  101 . 
     The female housing  60  is made of synthetic resin, and includes a hood portion  61  that is open forward, and a housing main body  63  that is arranged passing through a back wall  62  of the hood portion  61 . The housing main body  63  includes terminal cover housing portions  64  in which the terminal covers  80  are accommodated, and a third seal housing portion  65  in which the third seals  105  are accommodated. The third seals  105  are in intimate contact with both the outer circumferential surface of the sheath  102  of the shielded electric wire  101  and the inner circumferential surface of the third seal housing portion  65 , and the back retainer  106  restricts the rearward movement of the third seals  105 . This restricts the infiltration of water from the rear side into the third seal housing portion  65 . 
     A second seal attachment wall  69  on which the second seal  50  is fitted is provided around the inside of the hood portion  61 . The front cover  40  is attached to the front side of the second seal attachment wall  69 . This front cover  40  restricts the dislodgement of the second seal  50  from the second seal attachment wall  69  to the front side. When the male housing  130  enters the gap between the hood portion  61  and the second seal attachment wall  69 , the second seal  50  comes into intimate contact with both the male housing  130  and the second seal attachment wall  69 , and thus the infiltration of water from between the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  into the second seal attachment wall  69  is restricted. 
     The lever  70  substantially has a gate shape as a whole. As shown in  FIG. 16 , two cam plate portions  71  are coupled via an operation portion  72 . As shown in  FIG. 17 , each of the cam plate portions  71  is provided with a cam groove  73  into which a cam pin  131  provided on the male housing  130  can enter, and this cam groove  73  is formed to be substantially arc-shaped around a rotation hole  74  to which a rotation shaft  66  provided on the female housing  60  is fitted. More specifically, the cam groove  73  includes a fitting track  73 A that is formed such that it approaches the rotation hole  74  as it extends from the entrance portion toward the near side of the back end portion, and an idling track  73 B that is formed to be continuous with the fitting track  73 A and is spaced equidistantly around the rotation hole  74 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 17 and 18 , the cam plate portion  71  is provided with a driving shaft  75  that protrudes at a position opposite to the idling track  73 B of the cam groove  73  with respect to the rotation hole  74 . The driving shaft  75  is located on the rotation hole  74  side with respect to the operation portion  72 . The driving shaft  75  on one cam plate portion  71  and the driving shaft  75  on the other cam plate portion  71  protrude facing each other. 
     The lever  70  is rotatably attached to the female housing  60  by fitting the two rotation shafts  66  to the two rotation holes  74  from the inside. The lever  70  can be rotated from a rotation start position shown by a long-double-short-dashed line in  FIGS. 12 and 13  via a fitting completion position shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9  to a rotation end position shown by a long-double-short-dashed line in  FIGS. 14 and 15 . At the rotation start position, the entrance portion of the cam groove  73  faces forward, and the cam groove  73  can receive the cam pin  131 . 
     By rotating the lever  70  to the fitting completion position after the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are lightly fitted to each other and the cam pins  131  enter the entrance portions of the cam grooves  73 , the cam pins  131  move along the fitting tracks  73 A of the cam grooves  73 , and thus the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other. By further rotating the lever  70  to the rotation end position, the cam pins  131  move along the idling tracks  73 B of the cam grooves  73 , but the fitting operation for fitting the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  to each other does not proceed any further. In other words, the fitting completion state is maintained. 
     Each of the contact pressure applying members  20  has a hook shape as a whole. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the contact pressure applying member  20  includes a driving portion  22  provided with a driving track  21  that engages with the driving shaft  75  and thereby allows movement in the front-rear direction, a contact pressure applying portion  23  that presses the elastic contact piece  111  of the female terminal  110  and applies contact pressure thereto, and a coupling portion  24  that couples the driving portion  22  and the contact pressure applying portion  23 . The driving portion  22  and the contact pressure applying portion  23  are arranged to respectively protrude rearward from two lateral edges of the coupling portion  24  and face each other. The driving portion  22  is longer than the contact pressure applying portion  23 . 
     A flange  25  is provided around the central portion of the driving portion  22  in the front-rear direction. A plurality of attachment holes  26  are provided passing through the flange  25 . A plurality of attachment protrusions  31  provided on the first seal  30  are fitted to the attachment holes  26 , and thus the first seal  30  is fixed to the rear surface of the flange  25 . The driving track  21  is provided in a portion of the driving portion  22  located on the rear side of the flange  25 . The driving track  21  extends obliquely forward from the upper edge of the driving portion  22 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the driving portions  22  are inserted through holes  67  provided passing through the back wall  62  of the hood portion  61  from the front side. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the driving portions  22  protruding rearward from the back wall  62  are attached along attachment target portions  68  provided on the left and right sides of the outer circumferential surface of the third seal housing portion  65 . Each of the attachment target portions  68  include an L-shaped guide wall  68 A for guiding the movement of the driving portion  22 . The contact pressure applying member  20  can move in the front-rear direction between a low contact pressure position shown in  FIG. 5  and a high contact pressure position shown in  FIG. 7 . The flange  25  of the contact pressure applying member  20  is accommodated in the gap between the outer circumferential surface of the terminal cover housing portion  64  and the inner circumferential surface of the second seal attachment wall  69 . The first seal  30  is in intimate contact with both the outer circumferential surface of the terminal cover housing portion  64  and the inner circumferential surface of the second seal attachment wall  69 . Accordingly, the first seals  30  prevent the infiltration of water into the hood portion  61  through the through holes  67 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , when the lever  70  is located at the fitting completion position and the contact pressure applying members  20  are located at the low contact pressure positions, the driving shafts  75  slightly enter the entrance portions of the driving tracks  21  of the contact pressure applying members  20 . When the lever  70  is rotated to the rotation end position, the driving shafts  75  move along the driving tracks  21  and thus the driving portions  22  are drawn rearward. As a result, the contact pressure applying members  20  reach the high contact pressure positions as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 14 , when the contact pressure applying members  20  are located at the high contact pressure positions, each driving portion  22  is accommodated in the gap between the attachment target portion  68  and the lever  70 , thus making it possible to prevent the contact pressure applying members  20  from being deformed and bent outward, and being dislodged from the female housing  60 . While the lever  70  is rotated from the fitting completion position to the rotation end position, the cam pins  131  of the male housing  130  move along the idling tracks  73 B of the cam grooves  73 , and therefore, the fitting operation for fitting the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  to each other does not proceed any further. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , each of the front end portions of the terminal covers  80  is provided with a contact pressure applying portion insertion hole  81  through which the contact pressure applying portion  23  can be inserted from the front side, and a male terminal insertion hole  82  through which the male terminal  120  can be inserted from the front side. As shown in  FIG. 5 , at the low contact pressure position, each of the leading ends of the contact pressure applying portions  23  passes through the contact pressure applying portion insertion hole  81  and enters the rear side of the elastic contact piece  111  (a position located on a side opposite to the terminal connecting portion  115 ). As shown in  FIG. 7 , at the high contact pressure position, the contact pressure applying portion  23  pushes the elastic contact piece  111  toward the terminal connecting portion  115  while coming into sliding contact with the rear side of the leading end of the elastic contact piece  111 , and thus the contact pressure applying portion  23  presses the elastic contact piece  111  toward the terminal connecting portion  115 . 
     Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 19 , when the male terminal  120  enters the gap between the elastic contact piece  111  and the terminal connecting portion  115  through the male terminal insertion hole  82  in the state in which the contact pressure applying portion  23  is located at the low contact pressure position, the male terminal  120  comes into contact with the terminal connecting portion  115  with low contact pressure due to spring force of the elastic contact piece  111  as shown in  FIG. 20 . Accordingly, contact wear does not occur in the male terminal  120  and the terminal connecting portion  115 , and a foreign matter removing effect obtained through a wiping effect is exhibited. Then, as shown in  FIG. 21 , in the state in which the contact pressure applying portion  23  is located at the high contact pressure position, the male terminal  120  comes into contact with the terminal connecting portion  115  with high contact pressure due to pressing force from the contact pressure applying portion  23  via the elastic contact piece  111 . With this configuration, high contact pressure can be applied to the male terminal  120  and the terminal connecting portion  115  while the fitting operation for fitting the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  to each other remains completely stopped, thus making it possible to reduce electrical contact resistance with high contact pressure without causing contact wear. 
     As described above, in this embodiment, before the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other, the contact pressure applying member  20  is located at the low contact pressure position, and the female terminal  110  is in contact with the male terminal  120  with low contact pressure, thus making it possible to prevent contact wear. After the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other, the contact pressure applying member  20  is moved to the high contact pressure position by the lever  70 , and thus the female terminal  110  is in contact with the male terminal  120  with high contact pressure. During this period, the fitting operation for fitting the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  to each other remains stopped, thus making it possible to prevent contact wear even when the low contact pressure state changes to the high contact pressure state. 
     The through holes  67  of the female housing  60  can be sealed from water with the first seals  30 , and the fitting portion where the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are fitted to each other can be sealed from water with the second seal  50 , thus making it possible to apply the lever-type connector to a waterproof connector. 
     A configuration may also be employed in which the lever  70  includes the cam grooves  73 , and each of the cam grooves  73  includes: the fitting track  73 A configured to be engaged with the cam pin  131  provided on the male housing  130  and to thereby allow a fitting operation to be performed; and the idling track  73 B configured to allow the fitting operation to remain stopped when the lever  70  is continuously moved after the completion of fitting. 
     With this configuration, each of the cam grooves  73  includes the fitting track  73 A and the idling track  73 B, and therefore, the fitting operation does not proceed even when the lever  70  is continuously moved after the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other using the fitting track  73 A, thus making it possible to maintain the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  in the state in which they are completely fitted to each other. 
     A configuration may also be employed in which the lever  70  includes the driving shafts  75 , each of the contact pressure applying members  20  includes: the driving portion  22  provided with the driving track  21  configured to be engaged with the driving shaft  75  and to thereby allow movement from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position; and the contact pressure applying portion  23  configured to press the female terminal  110  and apply contact pressure, and the driving portion  22  is provided passing through the through hole  67 . 
     With this configuration, the driving portions  22  are arranged at positions separate from the positions of the contact pressure applying portions  23  that press the female terminals  110 , thus making it possible to provide the first seals  30  without being limited by the arrangement of the female terminals  110 . 
     A configuration may also be employed in which the female housing  60  includes the attachment target portions  68  to which the driving portions  22  are attached, and each of the driving portions  22  is accommodated in a gap between the attachment target portion  68  and the lever  70  after the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other. 
     With this configuration, each of the driving portions  22  is accommodated in the gap between the attachment target portion  68  and the lever  70 , thus making it possible to prevent the driving portion  22  from becoming dislodged from the attachment target portion  68  while the driving portion  22  is moving from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position. 
     Embodiment 2 
     Next, Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to the diagrams shown in  FIGS. 22 to 24 . A lever-type connector  200  of this embodiment is different from the lever-type connector  10  of Embodiment 1 in that the configuration of the female terminal  110  is changed. The other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 1, and therefore, the same reference numerals as those in Embodiment 1 are used, and the descriptions of these configurations are omitted. 
     As shown in  FIG. 22 , a female terminal  210  of this embodiment includes a terminal main body  211  and a secondary spring  212 , and the terminal main body  211  includes a bottom wall  213 , a primary spring  214  arranged opposite to the bottom wall  213 , and two coupling walls  215  that couple the bottom wall  213  and the primary spring  214 . The primary spring  214  is formed such that it approaches the bottom wall  213  as it extends forward from the front edge of the base end portion that is installed at the upper edge of the two coupling walls  215 , and the front end of the primary spring  214  is substantially aligned with the front end of the bottom wall  213  in the front-rear direction. 
     The secondary spring  212  has a polygonal tube shape, and is arranged so as to surround the entire periphery of the vicinity of the front end of the primary spring  214  and the vicinity of the front end of the bottom wall  213 . The opposed wall portion of the secondary spring  212  that is opposite to the primary spring  214  is provided with a protrusion  216 . The distance between the front end of the primary spring  214  and the bottom wall  213  is made smaller than the thickness of a male terminal  220 . However, a guiding tapered portion  221  is formed at the front end of the male terminal  220 , thus making it possible to smoothly insert the male terminal  220  into the gap between the bottom wall  213  and the primary spring  214 . As shown in  FIG. 23 , when the male terminal  220  enters the gap between the bottom wall  213  and the primary spring  214  in the state in which the contact pressure applying portion  23  is located at the low contact pressure position, contact pressure is generated due to the primary spring  214  being bent. Accordingly, the male terminal  220  and the female terminal  210  are in contact with each other with low contact pressure, and a foreign matter removing effect obtained through a wiping effect is exhibited without causing contact wear. 
     Since the guiding tapered portion  231  is formed at the front end of a contact pressure applying portion  230 , the contact pressure applying portion  230  can be smoothly inserted into the gap between the secondary spring  212  and the primary spring  214 , and contact pressure can be softly applied to the primary spring  214 . As shown in  FIG. 24 , when the contact pressure applying portion  230  is moved from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position, the contact pressure applying portion  230  is thrust into the gap between the protrusion  216  and the primary spring  214 , and the contact pressure applying portion  230  presses the primary spring  214  toward the bottom wall  213 . In this state, the male terminal  220  is in contact with the bottom wall  213  with high contact pressure due to pressing force from the contact pressure applying portion  230  via the primary spring  214 . With this configuration, high contact pressure can be applied to the male terminal  220  and the female terminal  210  while the fitting operation for fitting the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  to each other remains completely stopped, thus making it also possible to reduce electrical contact resistance with high contact pressure without causing contact wear. 
     Embodiment 3 
     Next, Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to the diagram shown in  FIG. 25 . A lever-type connector  300  of this embodiment is different from the lever-type connector  10  of Embodiment 1 in that the configuration of the contact pressure applying portion  23  is changed. The other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 1, and therefore, the same reference numerals as those in Embodiment 1 are used, and the descriptions of these configurations are omitted. 
     The contact pressure applying portion  310  of this embodiment includes a shaft portion  311  made of synthetic resin and a spike  312  made of metal. The spike  312  is formed such that the leading end of the elastic contact piece  111  is in contact with the spike  312  while the contact pressure applying portion  310  moves between the low contact pressure position and the high contact pressure position. 
     While the contact pressure applying portion  310  moves from the low contact pressure position to the high contact pressure position, the leading end portion of the elastic contact piece  111  comes into sliding contact with the spike  312  with strong force. However, the spike  312  is made of metal and is not worn away unlike in a case where the spike is made of resin even when the contact pressure applying portion  310  is repeatedly inserted and removed. Moreover, even if a strong force is applied thereto from the elastic contact piece  111  for a long period of time in the state in which the contact pressure applying portion  310  is located at the high contact pressure position, compressive creep deformation does not occur unlike in a case where the spike is made of resin. Therefore, a reduction in contact pressure due to wear and compressive creep deformation can be prevented. 
     Embodiment 4 
     Next, Embodiment 4 will be described with reference to the diagram shown in  FIG. 26 . A lever-type connector  400  of this embodiment is different from the lever-type connector  10  of Embodiment 1 in that the drive system for the contact pressure applying member  20  is changed from a cam mechanism to a rack-and-pinion gear drive. The other configurations are the same as those in Embodiment 1, and therefore, the same reference numerals as those in Embodiment 1 are used, and the descriptions of these configurations are omitted. 
     A contact pressure applying member  410  of this embodiment includes a driving portion  412  provided with a driving gear  411  instead of the driving track  21 . The driving gear  411  extends linearly. On the other hand, a lever  420  includes a rotation shaft  422  provided with a pinion gear  421  on the outer circumference. The driving gear  411  and the pinion gear  421  mesh with each other, and the contact pressure applying member  410  can be moved in the front-rear direction by rotating the lever  420 . 
     Other Embodiments 
     The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described in the description above and the drawings, and for example, various embodiments below are also included. 
     (1) Although the lever  70  is provided with the cam grooves  73 , and the male housing  130  is provided with the cam pins  131  in the above-mentioned embodiments, a configuration may also be employed in which a lever is provided with cam pins, and a male housing is provided with cam grooves. 
     (2) Although the lever  70  is provided with the driving shafts  75 , and the contact pressure applying member  20  is provided with the driving track  21  in the above-mentioned embodiments, a configuration may also be employed in which a lever is provided with driving tracks, and a contact pressure applying member is provided with a driving shaft. 
     (3) Although the contact pressure applying member  20  in which the driving portion  22  and the contact pressure applying portion  23  are provided at separate portions and coupled by the coupling portion  24  is shown as an example in the above-mentioned embodiments, a contact pressure applying member in which a driving portion and a contact pressure applying portion are continuously provided as a single body may also be used. 
     (4) Although the configuration in which the driving portion  22  is stored between the attachment target portion  68  and the lever  70  after the female housing  60  and the male housing  130  are completely fitted to each other is shown as an example in the above-mentioned embodiments, the driving portion may also be exposed to the outside at the attachment target portion. 
     (5) Although the rotary lever  70  is used in the above-mentioned embodiment, a slide lever may also be used. 
     (6) Although the box-shaped female terminals  110  including the polygonal tube portion  112  are used in the above-mentioned embodiments, cylindrical female terminals may also be used. 
     (7) Although the first seal  30  is attached to the flange  25  of the contact pressure applying member  20  in the above-mentioned embodiments, the first seal  30  may also be attached to the opening edge of the through hole  67  of the female housing  60 . 
     (8) Although the fitting and removal of the male housing  130  and the driving of the contact pressure applying members are performed by rotating the lever  70  in Embodiments 1 to 3 above, a configuration may also be employed in which only the driving of the contact pressure applying members is performed by rotating the lever in the same manner as in Embodiment 4. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
         
           
               10 ,  200 ,  300 ,  400  . . . Lever-type connector 
               20 ,  410  . . . Contact pressure applying member 
               21  . . . Driving track 
               22 ,  412  . . . Driving portion 
               23 ,  230 ,  310  . . . Contact pressure applying portion 
               30  . . . First seal 
               50  . . . Second seal 
               60  . . . Female housing 
               67  . . . Through hole 
               68  . . . Attachment target portion 
               70 ,  420  . . . Lever 
               73  . . . Cam groove 
               73 A . . . Fitting track 
               73 B . . . Idling track 
               75  . . . Driving shaft 
               110 ,  210  . . . Female terminal 
               120 ,  220  . . . Male terminal 
               130  . . . Male housing 
               131  . . . Cam pin