Patent Publication Number: US-9843118-B1

Title: Low insertion force connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-141182 filed in Japan on Jul. 19, 2016. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a low insertion force connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Conventionally, there is known a low insertion force connector (a so-called LIF connector) which includes a lever member that is attached to a terminal storage body such as a housing to be rotatable and reduces a fitting operation force of an electrical connection target with respect to a counterpart connector by a rotation operation of the lever member (in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-149420 and No. 2005-11647). For example, in this kind of low insertion force connector, the terminal storage body is fixed to a counterpart part (a counterpart connector or the like) by screw-fixing. 
     Incidentally, there is a case in which the electrical connection target of the low insertion force connector is, for example, a driving device of a vehicle provided with an inverter or a motor. In this case, there is a possibility that an external force such as a vibration may be transmitted from the driving device to the low insertion force connector. Further, there is also a possibility that an external force is transmitted from an electric wire drawn out from the terminal storage body to the low insertion force connector. Thus, there is a concern that the lever member of the low insertion force connector may rattle with respect to the terminal storage body in accordance with the input of the external force. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the aforementioned problems, the present invention is to provide a low insertion force connector capable of improving vibration resistance of a lever member. 
     In order to solve the above mentioned problem and achieve the object, a low insertion force connector according to one aspect of the present invention includes a terminal storage body which a terminal storage portion storing a terminal corresponding to a fitting target with respect to a counterpart terminal of a counterpart connector of an electrical connection target, a connector fitting portion fitted to a counterpart fitting portion of the counterpart connector, and a target fixation portion fixed to a fixation portion of the electrical connection target or the counterpart connector after the fitting of the connector fitting portion and the counterpart fitting portion is completed; and a lever member that includes a rotation fulcrum point portion attached to a rotation shaft of the terminal storage body to be rotatable, a lever operation portion serving as a force point portion during a lever operation, and an operation point portion fitting the terminal to the counterpart terminal while fitting the connector fitting portion to the counterpart fitting portion in a state where a target guide portion of the electrical connection target or the counterpart connector is slid to apply a force between the target guide portion and the operation point portion along with a rotation operation about the rotation fulcrum point portion as a rotation center in response to the rotation operation of the lever operation portion, wherein the lever member includes a target fixation portion which is fastened to the target fixation portion of the terminal storage body and the fixation portion after the fitting is completed. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, in the low insertion force connector, it is preferable that the lever member includes the operation point portion and includes a first guide portion guiding the target guide portion along with a rotation operation about the rotation fulcrum point portion as a rotation center, a second guide portion which communicates with the rotation fulcrum point portion and is able to guide the rotation shaft after the completion of the fitting, and a third guide portion which communicates with the first guide portion and is able to guide the target guide portion in the same direction as the rotation shaft after the completion of the fitting, and wherein the second guide portion and the third guide portion are formed so that the lever member moves relative to the terminal storage body to a fastening position of the target fixation portion of the lever member. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the low insertion force connector, it is preferable that the second guide portion and the third guide portion are formed to lock the rotation shaft and the target guide portion in a direction intersecting an axial direction of a fastening screw at the time of the fastening when the lever member moves relatively to the fastening position. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the low insertion force connector, it is preferable that the terminal storage body includes a positioning portion on which the target fixation portion of the lever member is disposed at the time of the fastening. 
     The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a low insertion force connector and a counterpart connector according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the low insertion force connector when a lever member is attached thereto; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating the low insertion force connector when the lever member is moved to a first lever position; 
         FIG. 4  is a rear view of the low insertion force connector; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the low insertion force connector; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating a state where a rotation operation for fitting the connector to the lever member does not start and a state where a rotation operation for releasing the fitting of the connector ends; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view illustrating a state where the rotation operation for fitting the connector to the lever member does not start and a state where the rotation operation for releasing the fitting of the connector ends; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view illustrating a state where the rotation operation for fitting the connector to the lever member ends and the rotation operation for releasing the fitting of the connector does not start; 
         FIG. 9  is a side view illustrating a state where the rotation operation for fitting the connector to the lever member ends and the rotation operation for releasing the fitting of the connector does not start; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view illustrating a state where a pressing operation for fitting the connector to the lever member ends and a pulling operation for releasing the fitting of the connector does not start; 
         FIG. 11  is a side view illustrating a state where the pressing operation for fitting the connector to the lever member ends and the pulling operation for releasing the fitting of the connector does not start; and 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view illustrating a state where a fastening operation for the lever member ends. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of a low insertion force connector according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Further, the invention is not limited to the embodiment. 
     Embodiment 
     An embodiment of a low insertion force connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 12 . 
     Reference numeral  1  of the drawings denotes the low insertion force connector of the embodiment. The low insertion force connector  1  is physically and electrically connected to a counterpart connector  100  which is a fitting target and includes a terminal (not illustrated), a terminal storage body  10  which stores the terminal, and a lever member  20  that reduces a fitting operation force when the low insertion force connection is fitted to the counterpart connector  100 . 
     The counterpart connector  100  is provided in a device (hereinafter, referred to as an “electrical connection target”)  110  which is an electrical connection target using the low insertion force connector  1  and is provided in a casing  111  or the like of the electrical connection target  110  ( FIG. 1 ). The electrical connection target  110  may be anything as long as the electrical connection target uses the low insertion force connector  1 . Here, a driving device (for example, a motor or an inverter of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle) of a vehicle is given as an example of the electrical connection target  110 . The counterpart connector  100  includes a housing  101  which is provided in the casing  111  of the electrical connection target  110  and a counterpart terminal (not illustrated) is disposed inside a fitting portion (hereinafter, referred to as a “counterpart fitting portion”)  101   a  of the housing  101 . 
     In the low insertion force connector  1 , the terminal is a fitting target with respect to the counterpart terminal and forms a physical and electrical connection relation in accordance with the fitting. The terminal may be a male terminal or a female terminal. 
     The terminal storage body  10  includes a terminal storage portion  11  which stores a terminal and a fitting portion (hereinafter, referred to as a “connector fitting portion”)  12  which is fitted to the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). The terminal storage portion  11  is disposed inside the connector fitting portion  12 . In this example, the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  are respectively formed in a cylindrical shape and are fitted to each other along the cylinder axis so that the terminal and the counterpart terminal are fitted to each other. Accordingly, the low insertion force connector  1  and the counterpart connector  100  are physically and electrically connected to each other. In the terminal storage body  10 , an electric wire WH which is physically and electrically connected to the inner terminal is drawn out. In this example, the electric wire WH is drawn out in a direction intersecting an insertion/extraction direction (hereinafter, referred to as a “connector insertion/extraction direction”) between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a . Here, the electric wire WH is drawn out in a direction orthogonal to the connector insertion/extraction direction and hereinafter the orthogonal direction will be referred to as a “first orthogonal direction”. Further, in the description below, a direction orthogonal to the connector insertion/extraction direction and the first orthogonal direction will be referred to as a “second orthogonal direction”. 
     The low insertion force connector  1  is fixed to the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  after the fitting between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  is completed. For this reason, the terminal storage body  10  is provided with a target fixation portion  13  used for the fixing. The target fixation portion  13  is fixed to a fixation portion  120  ( FIG. 1 ) of the electrical connection target  110  or the counterpart connector  100  after the fitting between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  is completed. In this example, two fixation portions  120  are provided at the casing  111  of the electrical connection target  110  and two fixation portions  13  are also provided to match the positions of the fixation portions  120 . 
     The target fixation portion  13  and the fixation portion  120  are fixed by screw-fixing using a fastening screw including a male screw and a female screw. The fastening screw may be, for example, a combination of a male screw member and a female screw member or may include any one of male and female screw members and a threaded portion of a fastening object to be screwed onto the threaded member and a fastening screw threaded to the screw member. For example, each fixation portion  120  is formed as a protrusion body which protrudes toward the low insertion force connector  1  in the cylinder axial direction (the connector insertion/extraction direction) of the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  and the fixation portions  120  are disposed to sandwich the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  in a direction orthogonal to the cylinder axial direction. Each fixation portion  120  is provided with a penetration hole  121  of which an axial direction is the first orthogonal direction. Here, the fixation portions  120  are disposed to be separated from each other in the second orthogonal direction and each fixation portion  120  is provided with the penetration hole  121  of which the axial direction is the first orthogonal direction. The target fixation portion  13  is formed in a piece body shape so that a flat surface overlaps an end surface  120   a  near one opening side of the penetration hole  121  in the fixation portion  120  after the fitting between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  is completed. The terminal storage body  10  of this example includes a rectangular piece body  14  which protrudes toward the counterpart connector  100  in the cylinder axial direction (the connector insertion/extraction direction) of the connector fitting portion  12  and the piece body  14  is provided with each target fixation portion  13  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). Here, since both ends of one flat surface  14   a  of the piece body  14  are fitted to the end surfaces  120   a  of the fixation portions  120  in an overlapping state, both ends of the piece body  14  are respectively used as the target fixation portions  13 . Each target fixation portion  13  is provided with a penetration hole  13   a  which is concentric with the penetration hole  121  after the fitting is completed. Here, a shield shell  10 B is provided with the target fixation portion  13 . 
     For example, the target fixation portion  13  and the fixation portion  120  may be fixed to each other by respectively inserting male screw members (not illustrated) into the penetration holes  13   a  and  121  and threading female screw members (not illustrated) to the male screw members. Further, the target fixation portion  13  and the fixation portion  120  may be fixed to each other by forming a female screw in the inner peripheral wall of the penetration hole  121  and threading a male screw member B inserted through the penetration hole  13   a  to the female screw portion of the penetration hole  121 . In this example, the latter case is exemplified ( FIG. 12 ). 
     Further, the terminal storage body  10  includes a rotation shaft  15  which becomes a rotation center of the lever member  20 . The rotation shafts  15  are disposed at two positions to be concentric with the terminal storage body  10  and respectively protrude outward in the opposite directions from the terminal storage body  10 . It is assumed that each rotation shaft  15  has an axis following the arrangement direction of the target fixation portions  13 . Here, the rotation shafts  15  are disposed so that the axial directions thereof follow the second orthogonal direction. In the terminal storage body  10  of this example, the rotation shafts  15  respectively protrude in the opposite directions from an ends  10   a  and  10   b  in the second orthogonal direction ( FIG. 4 ). 
     Specifically, the terminal storage body  10  of this example is prepared as an integrated structure in which a housing  10 A and the shield shell  10 B are assembled. 
     The housing  10 A is obtained by molding an insulating material such as a synthetic resin and is provided with the terminal storage portion  11  and the connector fitting portion  12 . The shield shell  10 B is provided to cover the housing  10 A from the outside for noise countermeasures and is formed of a conductive material such as metal. The target fixation portion  13  and the rotation shaft  15  are provided in at least one of the housing  10 A and the shield shell  10 B. In this example, the shield shell  10 B is provided with the target fixation portion  13  and the rotation shaft  15 . For this reason, the shield shell  10 B of this example includes the piece body  14  and the ends  10   a  and  10   b.    
     The lever member  20  is obtained by molding an insulating material such as a synthetic resin and is attached to the rotation shaft  15  of the terminal storage body  10  to be operated (in the form of a lever rotation) by an operator. As the lever operation, a rotation operation for rotating the lever member  20  relative to the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B), a pressing operation for linearly moving the lever member  20  relative to the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B), and a pulling operation for linearly moving the lever member  20  relative to the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B) in a direction opposite to the pressing operation are performed. Further, the rotation operation is largely divided into a connector fitting rotation operation for fitting the low insertion force connector  1  and the counterpart connector  100  to each other and a connector fitting release rotation operation for releasing the fitting between the low insertion force connector  1  and the counterpart connector  100  in a direction opposite to the connector fitting rotation operation. 
     The lever member  20  includes a rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  which is attached to the rotation shaft  15  to be rotatable, a lever operation portion  20   b  which is a force point portion during the lever operation, and an operation point portion (hereinafter, referred to as a “fitting operation point portion”)  20   c  which fits the terminal to the counterpart terminal while fitting the connector fitting portion  12  to the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  in a state where a target guide portion  130  of the electrical connection target  110  or the counterpart connector  100  is slid to apply a force between the operation point portion and the target guide portion  130  along with the rotation operation about the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center in response to the connector fitting rotation operation of the lever operation portion  20   b  ( FIG. 5 ). Further, the lever member  20  includes an operation point portion (hereinafter, referred to as a “fitting release operation point portion”)  20   d  which separates the terminal from the counterpart terminal while separating the connector fitting portion  12  from the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  in a direction opposite to the fitting direction in a state where the target guide portion  130  is slid to apply a force between the operation point portion and the target guide portion  130  along with the rotation operation about the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center in response to the connector fitting release rotation operation of the lever operation portion  20   b . Further, the lever member  20  includes a target fixation portion  20   e  which is fastened to the fixation portion  120  and the target fixation portion  13  of the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B). The target fixation portion  20   e  is provided in at least one position to be fastened to the fixation portion  120  and the target fixation portion  13  after the fitting of the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  is completed. For this reason, the lever member  20  is fixed to the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  and moves while being interlocked with the movement of the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  along with the terminal storage body  10  even when a vibration is generated in the electrical connection target  110 . Thus, since the low insertion force connector  1  can suppress the rattling or relative positional change of the lever member  20  relative to the terminal storage body  10 , it is possible to improve the vibration resistance after the fitting is completed. 
     Specifically, the lever member  20  is molded to be rotatable between a first state position ( FIGS. 6 and 7 ) with respect to the terminal storage body  10  and a second state position ( FIGS. 8 and 9 ) with respect to the terminal storage body  10 . The first state position (hereinafter, referred to as a “first lever position”) indicates a position where the connector fitting rotation operation starts and a position where the connector fitting release rotation operation ends. Further, the second state position (hereinafter, referred to as a “second lever position”) indicates a position where the connector fitting release rotation operation starts and a position where the connector fitting rotation operation ends. 
     The lever member  20  includes two lever structures  21  which are disposed to be separated from each other in the second orthogonal direction and a connection body  22  which extends in the second orthogonal direction and connects the lever structures  21  to each other ( FIG. 5 ). In the lever member  20 , one lever structure  21  is disposed to be separated from one end  10   a  of the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B) and the other lever structure  21  is disposed to be separated from the other end  10   b  of the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B). The lever structures  21  extend to ensure a length of a moment arm (that is, a distance between the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  and the lever operation portion  20   b ) in response to a target fitting operation force. The connection body  22  is a portion which is used as the lever operation portion  20   b . The connection body  22  of this example is formed in a piece body shape and connects one ends of the lever structures  21  to each other. 
     Each lever structure  21  is provided with a groove or a penetration hole into which the rotation shaft  15  is inserted. The penetration hole or the groove is used as the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a . The lever structure  21  of this example is provided with a penetration hole  21   a  ( FIG. 5 ). Each lever structure  21  can rotate relative to the terminal storage body  10  about each rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center by using a part of the penetration hole  21   a  as the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a . For this reason, the lever member  20  can rotate relative to the terminal storage body  10  about each rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center by rotating the connection body  22  (the lever operation portion  20   b ). 
     Further, each lever structure  21  is provided with a guide portion (hereinafter, referred to as a “first guide portion”)  21   b  which guides the target guide portion  130  along with the rotation operation of the lever structure  21  about the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center ( FIG. 5 ). The first guide portion  21   b  is provided with a groove or an arcuate penetration hole following the extension direction of the lever structure  21  and the target guide portion  130  is inserted thereinto. Here, the first guide portion  21   b  uses a wall surface contacting the target guide portion  130  during the connector fitting rotation operation among two opposite arcuate wall surfaces as the fitting operation point portion  20   c  and uses a wall surface contacting the target guide portion  130  during the connector fitting release rotation operation as the fitting release operation point portion  20   d . For this reason, the arcuate wall surface which forms the fitting operation point portion  20   c  is formed in a shape in which a force having a direction and a magnitude necessary for fitting the connector is applied to the target guide portion  130  while the target guide portion  130  is slid along with the rotation operation of the lever structure  21  about the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center. Meanwhile, the arcuate wall surface which forms the fitting release operation point portion  20   d  is formed in a shape in which a force having a direction and a magnitude necessary for releasing the fitting of the connector is applied to the target guide portion  130  while the target guide portion  130  is slid along with the rotation operation of the lever structure  21  about the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as a rotation center. The lever member  20  of this example is attached to the terminal storage body  10  so that the extension direction of each lever structure  21  follows the connector insertion/extraction direction at the first lever position and follows the first orthogonal direction at the second lever position and rotates by about 90° relative to the terminal storage body  10  between the first lever position and the second lever position. For this reason, the first guide portion  21   b  of this example is formed to complete the fitting operation and the fitting release operation between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  within the range of the rotation operation of the lever member  20 . 
     Each lever structure  21  is provided with a second guide portion  21   c  which communicates with the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  and is able to guide the rotation shaft  15  after the fitting between the connector fitting portion  12  and the counterpart fitting portion  101   a  is completed and a third guide portion  21   d  which communicates with the first guide portion  21   b  and is able to guide the target guide portion  130  in the same direction as the rotation shaft  15  after the fitting is completed ( FIG. 5 ). The second guide portion  21   c  and the third guide portion  21   d  are formed so that the lever member  20  moves relative to the terminal storage body  10  to the fastening position of the target fixation portion  20   e  with respect to the target fixation portion  13  of the terminal storage body  10  and the counterpart fixation portion  120 . Here, the fastening position becomes a third state position (hereinafter, referred to as a “third lever position”) of the lever member  20  with respect to the terminal storage body  10  ( FIGS. 10 to 12 ). 
     Here, one target fixation portion  20   e  is provided at a position near the connection body  22  in the lever member  20  of this example ( FIG. 5 ). The target fixation portion  20   e  is disposed to be separated from the fixation portion  120  or the target fixation portion  13  at the second lever position and to be laminated on the fixation portion  120  or the target fixation portion  13  at the third lever position. The target fixation portion  20   e  of this example is provided at a piece body  23  extending from one lever structure  21 . The piece body  23  includes a flat surface  23   a  which overlaps one end of the other flat surface  14   b  of the piece body  14  of the terminal storage body  10  (the shield shell  10 B) at the third lever position and the lamination position is used as the target fixation portion  20   e  ( FIG. 2 ). The target fixation portion  20   e  is provided with a penetration hole  20   e   1  concentric with the penetration holes  13   a  and  121  at the third lever position. For example, the target fixation portion  13 , the target fixation portion  20   e , and the fixation portion  120  may be fastened by inserting male screw members (not illustrated) through the penetration holes  13   a ,  20   e   1 , and  121  and threading female screw members (not illustrated) to the male screw members. Further, the target fixation portion  13 , the target fixation portion  20   e , and the fixation portion  120  may be fastened by forming female screw portions on the inner peripheral wall of the penetration hole  121  and threading the male screw members B respectively inserted through the penetration holes  13   a  and  20   e   1  to the female screw portions of the penetration hole  121 . In this example, the latter case is exemplified ( FIG. 12 ). 
     The lever member  20  of this example is moved relatively in the first orthogonal direction between the second lever position and the third lever position. For this reason, the second guide portion  21   c  and the third guide portion  21   d  are formed as penetration holes or grooves to extend in the extension direction of the lever structure  21 . For example, the penetration hole  21   a  of this example extends in the extension direction of the lever structure  21  and among both ends in the extension direction, an end opposite to the connection body  22  (the lever operation portion  20   b ) is used as the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a . For this reason, the penetration hole  21   a  of this example uses a portion near the connection body  22  in relation to the rotation fulcrum point portion  20   a  as the second guide portion  21   c . Further, each lever structure  21  includes a penetration hole extending in the extension direction and the penetration hole is used as the third guide portion  21   d . The third guide portion  21   d  extends in the extension direction of the lever structure  21  toward the connection body  22  from the arrival position of the target guide portion  130  at the second lever position of the first guide portion  21   b.    
     In this way, when the connection body  22  (the lever operation portion  20   b ) is pressed from the second lever position to the third lever position after the fitting in accordance with the connector fitting rotation operation is completed, the lever member  20  move relative to the terminal storage body  10  to a position where the target fixation portion  20   e  is laminated on the counterpart fixation portion  120  and target fixation portion  13  of the terminal storage body  10 . For this reason, since the lever member  20  is fixed to the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  when the target fixation portion  20   e  is fastened to the counterpart fixation portion  120  and target fixation portion  13  of the terminal storage body  10  by screw-fixing, the positional deviation relative to the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  can be suppressed. Thus, since the transmission of the vibration generated in the electrical connection target  110  to the lever member  20  is suppressed, the rattling or relative positional change with respect to the terminal storage body  10  can be suppressed. Thus, the low insertion force connector  1  of the embodiment can improve the vibration resistance of the lever member  20  after the fitting is completed. 
     Further, in the low insertion force connector  1 , the lever member  20  is attached to the terminal storage body  10  while being located at any one of the second lever position and the third lever position ( FIG. 2 ) and the lever member  20  is moved to the first lever position ( FIG. 3 ). Then, the low insertion force connector  1  is inserted into the counterpart connector  100  while the lever member  20  is located at the first lever position ( FIG. 1 ). At the time of the inserting, the target guide portion  130  is inserted from a groove portion  24  ( FIG. 3 ) of each lever structure  21  and the target guide portion  130  is guided to the first guide portion  21   b.    
     Incidentally, the terminal storage body  10  may be provided with a positioning portion  16  where the target fixation portion  20   e  of the lever member  20  is disposed at the time of the fastening ( FIG. 5 ). In this example, at the time of the fastening, the target fixation portion  20   e  of the lever member  20  is laminated on the target fixation portion  13  of the piece body  14  of the shield shell  10 B. For this reason, the shield shell  10 B is formed, for example, so that one end (the target fixation portion  13 ) having the target fixation portion  20   e  laminated thereon in the other flat surface  14   b  of the piece body  14  is recessed and the target fixation portion  20   e  of the lever member  20  is fitted into the recessed portion. Accordingly, when the target fixation portion  20   e  of the lever member  20  is operated from the second lever position to the third lever position to be fitted into the recessed portion, the penetration hole  20   e   1  is disposed to be concentric with the penetration holes  13   a  and  121  corresponding to the fastening target. Thus, the recessed portion becomes the positioning portion  16  used when the target fixation portion  20   e  of the lever member  20  is laminated and thus the operability of the operation for pressing the lever member  20  from the second lever position to the third lever position can be improved. Further, the positioning portion  16  of this example is formed as a step with respect to the other flat surface  14   b  of the piece body  14  and the side wall can receive a rotation torque acting on the target fixation portion  20   e  at the time of the fastening. Thus, the positional deviation of the lever member  20  relative to the terminal storage body  10  at the time of the fastening can be suppressed. 
     Further, the second guide portion  21   c  and the third guide portion  21   d  may be formed to lock the rotation shaft  15  and the target guide portion  130  in a direction intersecting the axial direction of the male screw member B at the time of the fastening when the lever member  20  moves relatively to the fastening position (the third lever position). For example, the second guide portion  21   c  is formed to have a narrow gap with respect to the rotation shaft  15  in the connector insertion/extraction direction at the third lever position so that the relative positional deviation in the connector insertion/extraction direction therebetween is suppressed. Accordingly, since the lever member  20  can suppress the positional deviation relative to the terminal storage body  10  even between the second guide portion  21   c  and the rotation shaft  15  in addition to the target fixation portion  20   e , it is possible to further suppress the rattling or relative positional change with respect to the terminal storage body  10 . Further, the third guide portion  21   d  is formed to have a narrow gap with respect to the target guide portion  130  in the connector insertion/extraction direction at the third lever position so that the relative positional deviation in the connector insertion/extraction direction therebetween is suppressed. Accordingly, since the lever member  20  can suppress the positional deviation relative to the counterpart connector  100  or the electrical connection target  110  even between the third guide portion  21   d  and the target guide portion  130  in addition to the target fixation portion  20   e , it is also possible to suppress the rattling or relative positional change with respect to the terminal storage body  10  from this point. 
     After the low insertion force connector according to the embodiment is fitted to the counterpart connector, the target fixation portion of the lever member is fastened to the target fixation portion of the terminal storage body and the fixation portion of the electrical connection target or the counterpart connector. That is, since the lever member is also fixed to the counterpart connector or the electrical connection target, a relative positional displacement with respect to the counterpart connector or the electrical connection target can be suppressed. Thus, the transmission of the vibration generated in the electrical connection target to the lever member is suppressed and the rattling or relative positional change with respect to the terminal storage body can be suppressed. Thus, the low insertion force connector can improve the vibration resistance of the lever member after the fitting is completed. 
     Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.