CN218632675U - Locking mechanism, connector, patch cord and coupling assembling - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a locking mechanism, a connector, a patch cord, and a connection assembly, the locking mechanism being used for the connector, the connector including a housing, the locking mechanism including a lock member rotatably provided in the housing, the lock member having a lock portion configured to be capable of switching between an unlock position and a lock position of another connector along with rotation of the lock member to unlockably lock the connector and the another connector. The locking mechanism, the connector, the patch cord and the connecting assembly have the advantages of being reliable in locking, high in holding power, not prone to damage and the like.

Description

Locking mechanism, connector, patch cord and coupling assembling

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of connectors, in particular to a connector, a patch cord and a connecting assembly.

Background

Connectors, also known as connectors, are used to connect two active devices to transmit current or signals. In the related art, the two connectors are usually locked by clamping the spring plates, and the like, but the holding force is weak, and the clamping force of the spring plates is attenuated after long-term use.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present disclosure provides a locking mechanism, a connector, a patch cord and a connecting assembly, which have the advantages of reliable locking, high holding power, and uneasy damage, so as to at least partially solve the above technical problems.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a locking mechanism for a connector, the connector including a housing, the locking mechanism including a lock member rotatably provided to the housing, the lock member having a lock portion configured to be switchable between an unlocked position and a locked position of another connector as the lock member rotates, to unlockably lock the connector and the another connector.

Optionally, the locking member is disposed on a surface of the housing, and the locking portion penetrates through the housing and extends into the connector.

Optionally, the locking mechanism further comprises an elastic member for providing the locking member with an elastic force to be maintained at the current position when the locking part is located at the unlocking position and the locking position, respectively.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a connector comprising:

a housing;

the plug and the opening of the shell enclose a slot, and the slot is used for inserting the plug of another connector so as to enable the connector to be butted with the another connector;

locking mechanism, including setting up locking piece and setting on the casing are in locking groove on the plug, the locking piece has and is located locking portion in the slot, the locking groove has unblock position and locking position, the locking piece is used for the drive locking portion removes between the unblock position and the locking position in the locking groove of another connector to the unblock ground lock the connector with another connector.

Optionally, the plug extends out of the opening of the housing, one surface of the plug adjacent to the slot is a conductive terminal mounting surface, the locking groove is formed in the other surface of the plug, and the locking piece is arranged on one side of the housing opposite to the conductive terminal mounting surface.

Optionally, the locking groove has an inflection point that changes its extending direction, the unlocking position and the locking position are respectively located on two sides of the inflection point, the locking groove further has a socket that allows the locking portion of another connector to be inserted along the docking direction during docking, the unlocking position is located at the socket, and the locking piece is used for driving the locking portion to move along the extending direction of the locking groove of another connector.

Optionally, the locking groove is configured as a circular arc-shaped groove, the locking member and the locking portion are rotatably disposed on the housing about a pivot axis, and a rotation radius of the locking portion is the same as a radius of the circular arc-shaped groove.

Optionally, the housing has a guide hole, and the locking portion is configured as a locking pin penetrating through the guide hole, and the guide hole is used for guiding the locking portion to move between a first position and a second position, wherein the locking portion is located at the unlocking position of the locking groove of the other connector at the first position, and the locking portion is located at the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector at the second position.

Optionally, the housing includes an inner housing and an outer housing sleeved on the inner housing, the opening is formed at one end of the inner housing, the guide hole is formed on an outer wall of the inner housing, the locking member includes an actuating portion connected to the locking portion, and the actuating portion is rotatably disposed on the outer housing about the pivot axis to operably drive the locking portion to rotate.

Optionally, the locking mechanism further comprises an elastic member for providing the elastic force to the lock member to be held at the current position when the lock portion is located at the unlocking position and the locking position of the other connector, respectively.

Optionally, the locking member includes a rotary disc and an actuating portion disposed on the housing rotatably around the pivot axis, the locking portion and the actuating portion are respectively connected to the rotary disc, a first gap and a second gap are disposed on an edge of the rotary disc at intervals along a circumferential direction, the elastic member is connected to the inner housing or the outer housing and has an elastic portion, when the locking portion is located at a first position, the elastic portion is inserted into the first gap, and when the locking portion is located at a second position, the elastic portion is inserted into the second gap.

Optionally, the elastic member is configured as a first elastic sheet, and the elastic portion is configured as a first bending portion protruding toward the turntable.

Optionally, the first resilient piece includes at least one second bending portion protruding toward a side away from the turntable.

Optionally, the actuating portion includes a knob and a connecting shaft connected to each other, the knob is at least partially located outside the housing, and an end of the connecting shaft facing away from the knob is connected to the dial located in the housing.

Optionally, at least two clamping surfaces arranged at intervals are arranged on the edge of the knob; and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

one side of the knob, which is far away from the outer shell, is provided with a first clamping groove.

Optionally, a clamping hole or a second clamping groove is formed in the rotary disc, and the actuating portion has a clamping block inserted into the clamping hole or the second clamping groove to limit the rotation of the rotary disc relative to the actuating portion.

Optionally, a second elastic piece is arranged on the housing, the second elastic piece has an arc abutting portion extending into the slot, the plug has a first groove, and the arc abutting portion is used for abutting against the first groove on the plug of the other connector to provide damping when the connector and the other connector are plugged into or separated from each other.

A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a patch cord, including a cord body and the connector as described above, where at least one end of the cord body is provided with the connector.

A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a connecting assembly including two connectors as described above, wherein a plug of any one connector is inserted into a slot of the other connector to enable the two connectors to be mated, and the two connectors are selectively locked by the locking mechanism.

Through above-mentioned technical scheme, promptly, drive locking part through the locking piece and remove and realize the locking and the unblock of two connectors, the state of locking is decided by the self position of locking part, and need not rely on the elastic force to maintain, can avoid using the mode of centre gripping such as shell fragment to come two connectors of locking as among the correlation technique, from this for two connector locking are reliable, and the holding power is high, long service life.

Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure without limiting the disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another angle of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the engagement between the latch, the resilient member, and the upper shell of the outer housing provided in exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of the connector with the outer housing and latches removed as provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural view of the connector provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure after the outer housing is removed;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a mating of the latch, the resilient member, and another angle between the upper shell of the outer housing provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 isbase:Sub>A cross-sectional view taken at location A-A of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view of an actuation portion of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural view of a carousel of connectors provided in exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a structural schematic diagram of a lower shell of a housing of a connector provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Description of the reference numerals

1-a shell; 110-an opening; 120-an inner housing; 121-guiding holes; 122-a second spring plate; 1221-an arcuate abutment; 130-an outer shell; 131-an upper shell; 132-a lower shell; 133-clamping hook; 134-bayonet; 2-a plug; 210-a first groove; 3, inserting a slot; 4-a locking mechanism; 410-a lock; 411-a locking part; 412-an actuation portion; 4121-knob; 4122-a connecting shaft; 4123-clamping face; 4124-a first card slot; 4125-a cartridge; 413-a turntable; 4131-a first gap; 4132-a second gap; 4133-snap-hole; 420-a locking groove; 421-socket; 422-unlocking bit; 423-locking position; 430-an elastic member; 431-an elastic part; 432-a second bend; 5-conductive terminal; 510-a first terminal; 520-a second terminal; 20-wire body.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure refers to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present disclosure, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.

In the present disclosure, the use of directional terms such as "inner and outer" refers to inner and outer relative to the profile of the component or structure itself, unless stated to the contrary. In addition, it should be noted that terms such as "first", "second", and the like are used for distinguishing one element from another, and have no order or importance. In addition, in the description with reference to the drawings, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote the same elements.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a locking mechanism usable with a connector to unlockably lock the connector and another connector to facilitate locking and separation of the two connectors after mating.

Wherein, referring to fig. 1 to 3, the connector includes a housing 1, the locking mechanism 4 may include a locking member 410 rotatably provided to the housing 1, the locking member 410 has a locking portion 411, and the locking portion 411 is configured to be capable of switching between an unlocking position 422 and a locking position 423 of another connector with rotation of the locking member 410 to unlockably lock the connector and the another connector.

Through this kind of mode, promptly, drive locking part 411 through locking piece 410 and rotate and realize the locking and the unblock of two connectors, can avoid using the mode of centre gripping such as shell fragment to come two connectors of locking as among the correlation technique, from this for two connector locking are reliable, and the holding power height, long service life.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 1, the locking member 410 may be disposed on a surface of the housing 1, and the locking portion 411 may extend into the connector through the housing 1, for the convenience of user operation and identification. From this, can realize unblock and locking through the locking part 411 that is located the connector inside through at connector outside operation locking piece 410, and when the user operation of being convenient for, also can be used for hiding the locking part, promote the aesthetic property of connector to optimize user's use and experience.

In order to prevent the locking member 410 from rotating to unlock the two connectors without being actively triggered by human, in some embodiments, referring to fig. 5, the locking mechanism 4 may further include an elastic member 430, and the elastic member 430 is used for providing elastic force to the locking member 410 to keep the current position when the locking portion 411 is located at the unlocking position 422 and the locking position 423 of the other connector, respectively. Therefore, the locking member 410 is kept at the locking position or the unlocking position through the elastic member 430, and it should be noted that the elastic member 430 is only used for providing damping when the locking member 410 is switched from two positions, and the elastic force does not directly participate in the locking of the two connectors, so that the connection stability of the two connectors is prevented from being affected due to the weakening of the elastic force caused by the locking of the elastic member in the prior art under the condition that the two connectors are kept in good connection. It can be understood that the elastic member 430 functions to prevent the locking member 410 from being easily rotated. In other embodiments, locking member 410 may be damped by a tight fit, such as an interference fit, providing a torque to rotate, in which case resilient member 430 may not be required.

The locking mechanism 4 can be applied to any connector with any suitable structure, and the purpose thereof is to enable unlocking and locking of the two connectors by driving the locking part 411 through the locking piece 410. For example, the locking member 410 can bring the locking portion 411 to move outside the connector to engage with the unlocking position and the locking position existing on the housing of the other connector. More mainly, the locking mechanism 4 may be applied to the connector provided in the second aspect of the present disclosure, specifically as follows.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 to 12, a connector is provided, which includes a housing 1 and a plug 2, the plug 2 and an opening 110 of the housing 1 enclose a slot 3 therebetween, and the slot 3 is used for inserting a plug of another connector, so that the connector and the another connector are mated.

In this way, the plug 2 of one of the two connectors is inserted into the slot of the other connector, and the slot 3 of the other connector is simultaneously inserted with the plug of the other connector, so that the two connectors can be butted in a positive-negative opposite-upside-down posture, that is, when the two connectors are butted, the butting can be realized after one connector is overturned relative to the other connector.

In addition, in the related art, the connectors are generally divided into a male end and a female end, for example, the connectors on the terminal devices (e.g., computers and mobile phones) are designed as the female end, and the connectors on the patch cord (e.g., USB patch cord) are designed as the male end, so that data transmission or charging is realized by inserting the male end into the female end. The connector capable of distinguishing the male and female polarities enables two connectors with the same polarity to be incapable of achieving plug-in connection, in addition, two patch cords can not be directly connected in series, and series connection can be achieved only through the connection of the other two-end female connectors. In the disclosure, the two connectors are butted through a positive-negative opposite inverted posture, so that the connectors do not distinguish male and female polarities any more, and great convenience in use is brought.

In addition, the two connectors may have the same or different structures except for the plug and the socket, for example, when the two connectors have the same structure, a locking mechanism may be provided on both connectors to achieve the interlocking function of the two connectors. Alternatively, one of the two connectors may be provided with a locking mechanism, and the other connector may be provided with no locking mechanism, and the other connector may be locked and unlocked by the connector having the locking mechanism.

In order to make the two connectors more stable to connect, the present disclosure is described by taking the two connectors as an example, which are configured identically and have a locking mechanism, for example, in some embodiments, referring to fig. 1 to 4, the connector may include a locking mechanism 4, the locking mechanism 4 may include a locking piece 410 disposed on the housing 1 and a locking slot 420 disposed on the plug 2, the locking piece 410 has a locking portion 411 located in the slot 3, the locking slot 420 has an unlocking position 422 and a locking position 423, and the locking piece 410 is used for driving the locking portion 411 to move between the unlocking position and the locking position of the locking slot of the other connector to unlockably lock the two connectors.

In this way, two connectors can be selectively locked together by the locking piece 410 driving the locking portion 411 to move between the unlocked position and the locked position of the locking groove of the other connector. For example, after the two connectors are mated, the locking portion 411 is located at the unlocking position of the other connector, and the user can select whether to lock the two connectors as needed. If the two connectors need to be locked, the user can drive the locking part 411 to move to the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector through the locking piece 410 to lock the two connectors, i.e. the two connectors cannot be separated. If it is not necessary to lock the two connectors, the user can keep the locking portion 411 at the unlocking position so that the two connectors can be separated or mated at any time.

In addition, the unlocking or locking is realized by switching the position of the locking part in the locking groove of the other connector, and the two connectors can be prevented from being locked by clamping of elastic sheets and the like in the related art, so that the two connectors are reliable in locking, high in holding force and long in service life.

In some specific embodiments, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the plug 2 extends out from the opening 110 of the housing 1, one side of the plug 2 adjacent to the slot 3 is a conductive terminal mounting surface, the locking groove 420 is disposed on the other side of the plug 2, and the locking member 410 is disposed on the side of the housing 1 opposite to the conductive terminal mounting surface. Therefore, when the two connectors are connected by the plug 2 and the slot 3 in a plugging fit manner, the two connectors can be electrically connected through the conductive terminals (to be described in detail later) arranged on the conductive terminal mounting surface, and the locking is realized by the fit between the locking piece 410 and the locking groove 420.

The latching groove 420 may be configured in any suitable manner, for example, in some embodiments, the latching groove 420 has an inflection point for changing the extending direction thereof, the unlocking position 422 and the latching position 423 are respectively located at two sides of the inflection point, the latching groove 420 further has an insertion opening 421 for inserting the latching portion of the other connector in the mating direction when mating, the unlocking position 422 is located at the insertion opening 421, and the latching member 410 is used for driving the latching portion 411 to move in the extending direction of the latching groove of the other connector. Because of locking groove 420 has at least one inflection point that changes its extending direction, so after two connectors dock, drive locking portion 411 through lock piece 410 and remove between unblock position and locking position along the extending direction in the locking groove of another connector, can realize the locking and the unblock of two connectors, easy operation is convenient.

The extending direction of the locking groove 420 can be designed in any suitable manner according to the practical application requirement, and the purpose is to change the extending direction thereof by at least one inflection point, so that after the locking part of the other connector moves to the locking position along the locking groove 420, the two connectors cannot be separated.

For example, in some embodiments, referring to fig. 4, the locking groove 420 may be configured as a circular arc-shaped groove, the locking member 410 and the locking portion 411 are rotatably disposed on the housing 1 about a pivot axis, and a rotation radius of the locking portion 411 is the same as that of the circular arc-shaped groove, so that when the locking member 410 and the locking portion 411 are rotated after the mating, the locking portion 411 can be moved between the unlocking position and the locking position along an extending direction of the circular arc-shaped groove of the other connector. For example, the locking mechanism of the connector provided by the second aspect of the present disclosure may adopt the locking mechanism provided by the first aspect, that is, the locking member 410 drives the locking portion 411 to rotate, so as to unlock and lock the two connectors. Accordingly, the locking mechanism provided by the first aspect described above may be fully applied to the connector of the second aspect of the present disclosure.

In other embodiments, which are not shown in the drawings, the locking groove may be configured as an L-shaped groove, an S-shaped groove, or the like, for example, and accordingly, after mating, the movement trajectory of the locking portion of the other connector is the same or substantially the same as the extending direction of the locking groove. As described above, the elastic member 430 is used to provide damping when the position of the locking member 410 is switched, or the locking member 410 is tightly installed to form damping, but in the embodiment where the locking groove is configured in other shapes, damping can also be provided by the locking groove, for example, in the case where the locking groove is an L-shaped groove, the locking portion 411 is not easy to directly switch the position between the unlocking position and the locking position because the locking position and the unlocking position are at right angles to each other, and the operation is performed accordingly.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, when the locking groove 420 is configured as an arc-shaped recess, the housing 1 has a guide hole 121 thereon, and the locking portion 411 is configured as a lock pin penetrating through the guide hole 121, and the guide hole 121 is used for guiding the locking portion 411 to move between a first position where the locking portion 411 is located at the unlocking position of the locking groove of the other connector and a second position where the locking portion 411 is located at the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector.

In this embodiment, the guide hole 121 can limit the moving range of the locking portion 411 to move between the first position and the second position, and the first position corresponds to the unlocking position of the locking groove of the other connector, and the second position corresponds to the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector, so that the moving range of the locking portion 411 can be limited between the unlocking position and the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector after the mating, thereby facilitating the accurate and quick unlocking and locking of the two connectors, and the operation is simple and convenient. Fig. 5 exemplarily shows a schematic view of the locking portion 411 at the second position, which corresponds to the locking position of the locking groove of the other connector. Fig. 8 exemplarily shows a schematic view of the locking portion 411 at the first position, which corresponds to the unlocked position of the locking groove of the other connector.

The housing 1 may be configured in any suitable manner according to the actual application requirement, for example, as shown in fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 5 and fig. 6, the housing 1 may include an inner housing 120 and an outer housing 130 sleeved on the inner housing 120, the opening 110 is formed at one end of the inner housing 120, the guide hole 121 is formed on the outer wall of the inner housing 120, the locking member 410 includes an actuating portion 412 connected with the locking portion 411, and the actuating portion 412 is rotatably disposed on the outer housing 130 about a pivot axis to operatively drive the locking portion 411 to rotate. Thus, the actuating portion 412 provided on the outer housing 130 may be rotated to drive the locking portion 411 to rotate, so as to switch between the first position and the second position. In addition, through setting up double-deck casing, inner casing 120 and shell body 130, can strengthen the structural strength of connector to bullport 121 sets up on inner casing 120, only locking portion 411 (lockpin) pass bullport 121 and extend to the slot in, can be when the plug of another connector inserts this slot, nearly fill up the space in the whole slot, so that plug and slot are the grafting cooperation better, with make full use of whole slot space, and be convenient for keep the stability after two connectors dock.

In another embodiment, not shown, the housing 1 may be configured as a single-layer housing, the actuator 412 may be provided on the single-layer housing, and the single-layer housing may have a guide hole 121 through which the locking portion 411 passes, and the locking portion 411 may be driven to rotate by rotating the actuator 412, so that unlocking and locking of both connectors may be achieved. The present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 5 and 12, when the housing 1 includes the outer housing 130 and the inner housing 120, the outer housing 130 may include an upper housing 131 and a lower housing 132 that are butted against each other, and the inner housing 120 is located in a space surrounded by the upper housing 131 and the lower housing 132. The upper shell 131 and the lower shell 132 may be connected in any suitable manner, for example, the lower shell 132 may be provided with a plurality of hooks 133, and the upper shell 131 is provided with a bayonet 134 for snap-fitting with the hooks, so that the upper shell 131 and the lower shell 132 are connected by the snap-fitting of the hooks 133 and the bayonet 134. Alternatively, the upper casing 131 and the lower casing 132 may be coupled by, for example, a threaded fastener, which is not particularly limited by the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 5, the locking mechanism 4 may further include an elastic member 430 as the locking mechanism 4 provided in the first aspect described above, and the elastic member 430 is used to provide the elastic force to the locking member 410 to keep at the current position when the locking portion 411 is located at the unlocking position 422 and the locking position 423 of the other connector, respectively. Therefore, the locking member 410 is kept at the locking position or the unlocking position by the elastic member 430, so that the locking member 410 is prevented from rotating to unlock the two connectors under the condition of non-artificial active triggering, and the stability of connection of the two connectors is improved.

Referring to fig. 5, 6 and 9, the locking member 410 may further include a dial 413, the locking portion 411 and the actuating portion 412 are respectively connected to the dial 413, and the elastic member 430 is configured to respectively provide the dial 413 with an elastic force maintained at a current position when the locking portion 411 is located at the first position and the second position. For example, referring to fig. 5, when the locking portion 411 is located at the second position, corresponding to the locking state of the two connectors, the elastic member 430 provides an elastic force to the dial 413 to keep the dial 413 at the current position, so that the locking state can be more stable, and thus a certain external force is required to rotate the actuating portion 412, so as to overcome the elastic force of the elastic member 430 and then drive the locking portion 411 to move, thereby preventing the actuating portion 412 from being loosened to switch from the locking state to the unlocking state. Referring to fig. 8, when the locking portion 411 is at the first position, the two connectors can be separated at any time corresponding to the unlocking state of the two connectors, and at this time, the elastic member 430 provides the elastic force for keeping the dial 413 at the current position, and if the unlocking state needs to be switched to the locking state, the state needs to be switched after overcoming the elastic force of the elastic member 430. Thus, the elastic member 430 is designed to keep the actuator 412 in the first position or the second position so that it does not rotate freely without the application of external force.

In addition, when the housing 1 is a double-layer housing, both the rotating disc 413 and the elastic element 430 can be disposed in the installation space formed between the inner housing 120 and the outer housing 130, so as to hide the rotating disc 413 and the elastic element 430 in the housing 1, thereby avoiding interference between the two connectors. When the housing 1 is a single-layer housing, the dial 413 and the elastic member 430 may be located inside the housing 1 to improve the aesthetic appearance of the connector.

Taking the case 1 as a double-layer case as an example, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5 and 8, the edge of the rotating disk 413 is provided with a first notch 4131 and a second notch 4132 arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction, and the elastic member 430 is connected to the inner case 120 or the outer case 130 and has an elastic portion 431. Referring to fig. 8, when the locking portion 411 is in the first position, the resilient portion 431 is inserted into the first notch 4131. Referring to fig. 5, when the locking portion 411 is located at the second position, the elastic portion 431 is inserted into the second notch 4132. In this way, the elastic force for holding the dial 413 at the current position can be provided by the engagement of the elastic portion 431 with the first slit 4131 or the second slit 4132.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 5, the elastic member 430 may be configured as a first elastic piece, and the elastic portion 431 is configured as a first bending portion protruding toward the dial 413. Thus, when the locking portion 411 needs to be rotated, the actuating portion 412 can be rotated to drive the rotating disc 413 to overcome the elastic force of the elastic member 430, so as to drive the elastic portion 431 to move out of the first notch 4131 or the second notch 4132, and then the actuating portion 412 is continuously rotated to rotate the locking portion 411 to the first position or the second position.

In addition, the first elastic piece may further include at least one second bending portion 432 protruding toward a side away from the rotating disc 413, wherein the number of the second bending portions 432 may be designed according to practical application requirements, for example, the number of the second bending portions may be selected according to a required magnitude of the elastic force or a required degree of deformation of the first elastic piece, which is not specifically limited in the present disclosure. An embodiment in which the number of the second bent portion 432 is two and the two second bent portions are respectively located at opposite sides of the first bent portion is exemplarily shown in fig. 5.

The actuating portion 412 may be configured in any suitable manner according to the actual application requirements, for example, as shown in fig. 9 and 10, the actuating portion 412 may include a connected knob 4121 and a connecting shaft 4122, the knob 4121 is at least partially located outside the outer housing 130, and the connecting shaft 4122 penetrates the outer housing 130 and is connected with the rotating disc 413 at one end extending into the installation space. Thereby, the knob 4121 and the dial 413 can be rotated about the central axis of the connecting shaft 4122, which is the pivot axis mentioned in the above embodiment.

The connecting shaft 4122 may be connected to the rotary disc 413 in any suitable manner, for example, as shown in fig. 9 to 11, the rotary disc 413 is provided with a clamping hole 4133 or a second clamping groove, the actuating portion 412 has a clamping block 4125 inserted into the clamping hole 4133 or the second clamping groove for limiting the rotation of the rotary disc 413 relative to the actuating portion 412, or it can be understood that the rotary disc 413 and the rotary knob 4121 can be rotated synchronously by, for example, circumferentially clamping the clamping hole 4133 and the clamping block 4125. In addition, the latch 4125 may be coupled to the latch hole 4133 or the second latch groove by, for example, an adhesive.

In other embodiments, which are not shown in the drawings, the actuating portion 412 may be connected to the rotary plate by means of fasteners, for example, the rotary plate may be connected to the rotary plate by means of screw fasteners passing through the rotary knob and the connecting shaft in sequence, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Further, the dial 413 and the locking part 411 may be constructed in one body to simplify the assembly process.

Further, in some embodiments, as shown with reference to fig. 3, 7 and 10, the knob 4121 is provided with at least two clamping surfaces 4123 spaced apart on an edge thereof. Thus, by providing at least two gripping surfaces 4123, it is convenient for an operator to manually grasp the two gripping surfaces 4123 to rotate the knob 4121.

In addition, a side of the knob 4121 facing away from the outer housing 130 may also be provided with a first notch 4124. Thus, the operator may also rotate the knob 4121 by inserting a tool or the like into the first notch 4124. The first locking groove 4124 may be configured as a straight groove or a cross-shaped groove, for example, which is not limited in this disclosure. Fig. 7 exemplarily shows an embodiment in which the first card slot 4124 is configured as an in-line groove, and an operator can also recognize the current position of the knob through the in-line groove to indirectly know the position of the locking portion of the current connector, in other words, know the state of the current connector, such as the unlocking state or the locking state.

Further, a marking portion may be provided on the side of the housing 1 where the knob 4121 is located, so as to facilitate a person to recognize the current state of the connector, or to guide the direction in which the operator needs to rotate the knob 4121 when the operator switches the locked state or the unlocked state, or the like.

Considering that the two connectors need to be electrically connected after being butted or plugged. Therefore, in some embodiments, referring to fig. 7, the conductive terminals 5 are disposed on one surface of the plug 2 adjacent to the slot 3 (i.e., the conductive terminal mounting surface), so that when two connectors are plugged together, the two connectors can be electrically connected through the conductive terminals 5 on the two connectors. Specifically, the plug 2 and the slot 3 have a common side surface, that is, the side surface of the plug 2 facing one side of the slot 3, so that when the two connectors are in plug-in fit, the common side surfaces on the two plugs 2 can be attached or close to be attached, so that the conductive terminal 5 of one connector can be contacted with and conducted with the conductive terminal 5 of the other connector, and further the male and female polarities of the connectors are not distinguished, and any two connectors can be connected and communicated in a plug-in manner.

The conductive terminals 5 may be configured in any suitable manner according to practical application requirements, for example, in some specific embodiments, the conductive terminals 5 may be a row arranged on the plug 2 near the opening of the slot 3, and when the two connectors are plugged, the conductive terminals 5 on the two connectors are in one-to-one contact and are conducted to realize the electrical connection of the two connectors. In other specific embodiments, referring to fig. 7, the conductive terminals may also include at least one first terminal 510 and at least one second terminal 520, the at least one first terminal 510 is exposed on the upper surface of the plug 2 protruding out of the housing 1, the at least one second terminal 520 is exposed on the upper surface of the plug 2 located inside the housing 1, the upper surface of the first terminal 510 is flush with the upper surface of the plug 2, the upper surface of the second terminal 520 protrudes out of the upper surface of the plug 2, and the second terminal 520 has elasticity, so that when the two connectors are plugged, the at least one first terminal of one connector contacts and conducts with the at least one second terminal of the other connector in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and the at least one second terminal of one connector contacts and conducts with the at least one first terminal of the other connector in a one-to-one correspondence manner, so as to achieve electrical connection between the two connectors.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 1 and 7, the inner housing 120 is provided with a second resilient piece 122, the second resilient piece 122 has an arc abutting portion 1221 extending into the slot 3, the plug 2 has a first groove 210, and the arc abutting portion 1221 is configured to abut against the first groove on the plug of another connector, so as to provide damping when the two connectors are plugged into or disconnected from each other. Thus, when the two connectors are plugged or separated, the second elastic sheet 122 can provide damping, so that the two connectors are not easy to slide relatively when being plugged and in an unlocked state. And when in plugging, the arc-shaped abutting part 1221 of one of the connectors abuts against the first groove of the other connector, so that the purpose of pre-positioning in the plugging process can be achieved, that is, the conductive terminal 5 of one of the connectors can be aligned to the conductive terminal 5 of the other connector, and the locking part of one of the connectors can be accurately inserted into the socket of the locking groove of the other connector, so as to be switched to the locking state at any time.

The connector provided by the second aspect of the present disclosure may be applied to various types of electronic devices, for example, may be applied to a terminal device, a relay device, and a storage device. An embodiment of the connector when connected to the wire body 20 of the patch cord is exemplarily shown in fig. 1 to 9.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a patch cord comprising a cord body 20 and the above-mentioned connector, at least one end of the cord body 20 being provided with the connector. Therefore, two patch cords with connectors can be directly connected in series. In addition, the patch cord has all the advantages of the connector, and the disclosure is not repeated herein.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a connecting assembly, including two connectors as described above, wherein the plug of any one connector is inserted into the slot of the other connector, so that the two connectors are mated, and the two connectors are selectively locked by the locking mechanism. By the mode, the connector can not distinguish male and female, and great convenience in use is brought. In addition, the connecting component has all the advantages of the connector, and the disclosure is not repeated herein.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications may be made to the technical solution of the present disclosure within the technical idea of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the various features described in the above embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner without departing from the scope of the invention. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the disclosure does not separately describe various possible combinations.

In addition, any combination of various embodiments of the present disclosure may be made, and the same should be considered as the disclosure of the present disclosure as long as it does not depart from the gist of the present disclosure.

Claims (19)

1. A lock mechanism for a connector including a housing, characterized in that the lock mechanism includes a lock member rotatably provided to the housing, the lock member having a lock portion configured to be capable of switching between an unlocked position and a locked position of another connector with rotation of the lock member to unlockably lock the connector and the another connector.

2. The latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the latch member is disposed on a surface of the housing, and the latch portion extends through the housing into an interior of the connector.

3. The latch mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a resilient member for providing a resilient force to the latch member to maintain the current position when the latch portion is in the unlatched position and the latched position, respectively.

4. A connector, comprising:

a housing;

the plug and the opening of the shell are enclosed to form a slot, and the slot is used for inserting a plug of another connector so as to enable the connector to be butted with the another connector;

locking mechanism, including setting up locking piece and setting on the casing are in locking groove on the plug, the locking piece has and is located locking portion in the slot, the locking groove has unlocking position and locking position, the locking piece is used for the drive locking portion removes between the unlocking position and the locking position of the locking groove of another connector to the unblock ground locking the connector with another connector.

5. The connector of claim 4, wherein the plug extends from the opening of the housing, one surface of the plug adjacent to the slot is a conductive terminal mounting surface, the locking slot is disposed on the other surface of the plug, and the locking member is disposed on a side of the housing opposite to the conductive terminal mounting surface.

6. The connector of claim 4, wherein the locking groove has an inflection point for changing an extending direction of the locking groove, the unlocking position and the locking position are respectively located at two sides of the inflection point, the locking groove further has a socket for inserting the locking portion of the other connector in the mating direction when the connector is mated, the unlocking position is located at the socket, and the locking member is used for driving the locking portion to move in the extending direction of the locking groove of the other connector.

7. The connector of claim 4, wherein the locking groove is configured as a circular arc-shaped groove, the locking member and the locking portion are rotatably provided on the housing about a pivot axis, and a radius of rotation of the locking portion is the same as a radius of the circular arc-shaped groove.

8. The connector of claim 7, wherein the housing has a guide hole therein, the latching portion is configured as a detent extending through the guide hole, and the guide hole is configured to guide the latching portion to move between a first position in which the latching portion is located at the unlocking position of the latching groove of the other connector and a second position in which the latching portion is located at the locking position of the latching groove of the other connector.

9. The connector of claim 8, wherein the housing includes an inner housing and an outer housing sleeved on the inner housing, the opening is formed at one end of the inner housing, the guide hole is formed on an outer wall of the inner housing, and the locking member includes an actuating portion connected to the locking portion, the actuating portion being rotatably disposed on the outer housing about the pivot axis to operatively drive the locking portion to rotate.

10. The connector of claim 7, wherein the lock mechanism further comprises an elastic member for providing the lock member with an elastic force to be held at the current position when the lock portion is located at the unlock position and the lock position of the other connector, respectively.

11. The connector of claim 10, wherein the locking member includes a rotary plate and an actuating portion rotatably disposed on the housing about the pivot axis, the locking portion and the actuating portion are respectively connected to the rotary plate, a first gap and a second gap are disposed on an edge of the rotary plate at intervals along a circumferential direction, the elastic member is connected to the housing and has an elastic portion, the elastic portion is inserted into the first gap when the locking portion is located at the first position, and the elastic portion is inserted into the second gap when the locking portion is located at the second position.

12. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the elastic member is configured as a first elastic piece, and the elastic portion is configured as a first bent portion protruding toward the rotation disc.

13. The connector according to claim 12, wherein the first resilient piece comprises at least one second bending portion protruding towards a side away from the rotation disc.

14. The connector of claim 11, wherein the actuation portion comprises a knob and a connecting shaft connected, the knob being at least partially outside the housing, an end of the connecting shaft facing away from the knob being connected to the dial within the housing.

15. The connector of claim 14, wherein the knob is provided with at least two clamping surfaces spaced apart on an edge thereof; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

one side of the knob, which is far away from the shell, is provided with a first clamping groove.

16. The connector according to claim 11, wherein the rotary plate is provided with a locking hole or a second locking groove, and the actuating portion has a locking block inserted into the locking hole or the second locking groove for limiting the rotation of the rotary plate relative to the actuating portion.

17. The connector of claim 4, wherein the housing is provided with a second resilient piece having an arc abutting portion extending into the slot, the plug has a first groove thereon, and the arc abutting portion is configured to abut against the first groove on the plug of the other connector to provide damping when the connector and the other connector are plugged into or disconnected from each other.

18. An adaptor wire comprising a wire body and a connector according to any one of claims 4 to 17, the connector being provided at least one end of the wire body.

19. A connector assembly comprising two connectors according to any of claims 4 to 17, the plug of one connector being inserted into the socket of the other connector to enable the two connectors to be mated, the two connectors being selectively lockable by the locking mechanism.

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