Locking and disconnecting device for an electrical connector

Abstract

This invention discloses a locking and disengaging device for an electrical connector, comprising a bushing-type floating mechanism, a bistable mechanism, and a support base. The bushing-type floating mechanism includes a floating element I, a floating element II, a lower track limit element, and an automatic centering assembly. Floating element I is nested inside floating element II and can float up and down within floating element II. The automatic centering assembly includes four elastic structural members, one end of which is installed on the inner wall of the four sides of the lower track limit element, and the other end is connected to the outer wall of the four sides of floating element II. A floating gap exists between floating element II and the through hole of the lower track limit element. The bistable mechanism includes a plug-in rocker arm and a spring assembly. The plug-in rocker arm is installed in conjunction with floating element I, and the spring assembly connects the plug-in rocker arm and the support base via a connecting piece. This invention enables convenient installation and reliable locking and disengagement of the connector's suspension and carrier.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electrical docking device technology, and more particularly to a locking and disengaging device for an electrical connector. Background Technology

[0002] When designing the electrical system of mounted equipment requiring automatic detachment / disengagement, pull-wire detachable, center-rod detachable, or electromagnetically detachable connectors are typically selected as the electrical interconnection nodes between the equipment and the mounting carrier. These connectors inherently possess locking functions during mounting and disengagement functions during detachment. However, in situations where installation space is limited, pull-wire detachable, center-rod detachable, or electromagnetically detachable connectors cannot be used. In such cases, only direct-insertion connectors can be used, and electrical connection (or disconnection) must be performed after the mechanical structure is installed (or before disassembly). In these situations, a device is needed that allows for fine-tuning of the electrical interface (compatible with production and installation errors of the upper and lower interfaces of different hanging objects) and possesses locking and disengagement functions.

[0003] Currently, the publicly available solutions are all related to the technology of separate electrical connectors (mechanical separation of pull rods, electromagnetic separation, guide rail separation, and pull wire separation), and there are no related mechanisms and solutions for direct-insertion electrical connectors.

[0004] The following problems exist with current suspension devices using through-hole electrical connectors: ① During the production and assembly process, installation errors inevitably occur in the relative positions of the mechanical and electrical interfaces of the suspension device. Therefore, after the mechanical interface of the suspension device is installed, the electrical interfaces cannot be directly interconnected (installation errors prevent the electrical connectors from directly mating). ② The extended state of the traditional electrical interface is not locked. During transportation and product operation, the through-hole electrical connector may experience intermittent connection or interruption due to vibration, causing unreliable electrical interconnection between the suspension device and the mounting carrier. ③ The retracted state of the traditional electrical interface is not locked. During the disassembly and installation of the mechanical interface of the suspension device, its lower electrical interface may sometimes be in a half-extended / fully extended state, interfering with the upper interface, affecting the efficiency of product disassembly and assembly, and may even damage the electrical interface. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a locking and separating device for electrical connectors, which uses a bushing-type floating mechanism and a bistable mechanism to achieve convenient installation and reliable locking and separation of the connectors that are cross-linked between the suspension and the carrier of the selected through-hole electrical connector.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention employs the following technical solution:

[0007] A locking and releasing device for an electrical connector includes a bushing-type floating mechanism, a bistable mechanism, and a support base, wherein:

[0008] The bushing-type floating mechanism includes floating component I, floating component II, lower limit component of the track, and automatic centering component; the inner cavity of floating component I is adapted to the size of the electrical interface of the suspended object, the electrical interface of the suspended object passes through floating component I and is fixedly connected to it by positioning pin, and the rear cable of the connector is connected to the electrical equipment of the suspended object through the inner cavity of floating component I.

[0009] Floating component I is nested inside floating component II, and floating component I can float up and down within floating component II;

[0010] The floating component II is nested in the through hole of the lower limit component of the track, and then the lower limit component of the track is installed into the support base; the lower part of both sides of the support base is provided with a mounting bracket with holes, and the side of the support base is provided with a mounting seat. The mounting bracket and the mounting seat are used together to install the bistable mechanism.

[0011] The automatic centering component includes four elastic structural members. One end of each elastic structural member is installed on the inner wall of the four sides of the lower limit member of the track, and the other end is connected to the outer wall of the four sides of the floating member II. There is a floating gap between the floating member II and the through hole of the lower limit member of the track.

[0012] The bistable mechanism includes a plug-in rocker arm and a spring assembly, wherein the plug-in rocker arm is installed in conjunction with the floating component I, and the spring assembly connects the plug-in rocker arm and the support base via a connecting piece.

[0013] Furthermore, symmetrical sliding pillars are provided on the lower part of both sides of floating component I, and waist-shaped holes are opened on the fixed plates on both sides of floating component II along the vertical direction. The sliding pillars are assembled in the waist-shaped holes, and the vertical floating range of floating component I is limited by the waist-shaped holes. At the same time, after the sliding pillar of floating component I passes through the waist-shaped hole, it passes through the arc-shaped hole of the plug-in rocker arm on the bistable mechanism. When the plug-in rocker arm rotates, floating component I can slide in the arc-shaped hole of the plug-in rocker arm and the waist-shaped hole of floating component II under the drive of the plug-in rocker arm, thereby driving the electrical connector to float up and down.

[0014] Furthermore, the upper surface of the support base has an opening, and the floating part II is provided with an upper edge around its perimeter. The upper edge of the floating part II is located in the space formed by the upper surface of the lower limit member of the track and the lower surface of the support base, and can float horizontally in this space.

[0015] Furthermore, when all four elastic structural members are in a free state, floating member II is located in the center of the electrical connector mounting contact plane. When the electrical interface is interconnected, floating member II floats back, forth, left, and right on the electrical connector mounting contact plane, and the four elastic structural members undergo elastic deformation. After the electrical interface is disassembled and separated, floating member II returns to the center position under the elastic force of the four elastic structural members.

[0016] Furthermore, the spring assembly includes a spring, a spring sleeve, and a spring shaft; the spring sleeve and the spring shaft are movably connected and nested inside the spring, and their travel is adapted to the spring travel; both the spring sleeve and the spring shaft have connecting lugs at their ends.

[0017] Furthermore, the plug-in rocker arm includes a pair of arc-shaped components, each with a connecting piece on the outer arc at its rear end, and a connecting hole on the connecting piece; there is an angle of not less than 90° between the connecting piece and the outer arc, so that the two form a "γ" shaped structure; the arc-shaped hole is opened from the front end to the middle of the arc-shaped component; a rotating shaft is provided at the position where the arc-shaped component and the connecting piece intersect, and the arc-shaped component and the connecting piece are fixed to the rotating shaft.

[0018] Furthermore, the end of the rotating shaft is provided with an internal hexagon, the plug-in rocker arm is installed in the support base, and the two ends of the rotating shaft are respectively assembled into the holes of the mounting brackets on both sides of the support base.

[0019] Furthermore, the spring cylinder is connected to the arc-shaped hinge on the plug-in rocker arm via the connecting lug at its end, and the spring shaft is connected to the mounting seat hinge on the side of the support via the connecting lug at its end.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following technical features:

[0021] 1. The direct-insertion electrical connector is installed on the bushing-type floating mechanism and can float along the electrical connection plane. It is compatible with the production and installation errors of the upper and lower interfaces of different suspended objects, and facilitates the installation and disassembly of the suspended objects.

[0022] 2. After the electrical interface is disconnected, the automatic centering mechanism can automatically center the electrical connector of the suspended object, which facilitates transportation and subsequent installation.

[0023] 3. The bistable mechanism can lock the extension and retraction of the electrical interface of the suspended object, that is, the locked state and the disengaged state are reliably determined, and the electrical interface will not interfere during the installation and disassembly of the suspended object. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is an isometric view of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of the structure of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 (a) and (b) are schematic diagrams of the locked state (extended) and the separated state (retracted) of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 (a) and (b) are the isometric and top views of the automatic centering component;

[0028] Figure 5This is an exploded view of the spring assembly. Detailed Implementation

[0029] This invention provides a locking and separating device for an electrical connector, which improves the convenience of electrical interface connection (or separation) of the suspension of a direct-insertion electrical connector after mechanical installation (or before disassembly) with the carrier; and ensures the reliability of electrical interface connection during transportation or loading and unloading.

[0030] Referring to the accompanying drawings, a locking and disengaging device for an electrical connector according to the present invention comprises a bushing-type floating mechanism 1, a bistable mechanism 2, and a support base 3. The bushing-type floating mechanism 1 includes a floating element I11, a floating element II12, a lower limit element 13, and an automatic centering assembly 14; the bistable mechanism 2 includes a plug-in rocker arm 21 and a spring assembly 22.

[0031] The inner cavity of the floating element I11 is adapted to the size of the electrical interface of the suspended object. The electrical interface (electrical connector) of the suspended object passes through the floating element I11 and is fixedly connected to it by a positioning pin. The cable at the rear end of the connector is connected to the electrical equipment of the suspended object through the internal cavity of the floating element I11; see also Figure 1 In this embodiment, the floating component I11 is a square frame structure.

[0032] Floating component I11 is nested inside floating component II12, allowing it to float up and down within II12. Sliding posts 16 are symmetrically arranged on the lower parts of both sides of floating component I11. Waist-shaped holes 17 are formed along the vertical direction on the fixing plates 15 on the lower sides of floating component II12, and the sliding posts are fitted into these holes, limiting the vertical floating range of floating component I11. Simultaneously, the sliding posts of floating component I11 pass through the waist-shaped holes and then through the arc-shaped holes 23 of the plug-in rocker arm 21 on the bistable mechanism 2. When the plug-in rocker arm 21 rotates, floating component I11, driven by the rocker arm 21, can slide simultaneously in the arc-shaped hole of the rocker arm 21 and the waist-shaped hole of floating component II12, thereby causing the electrical connector to float up and down (locking upwards and disengaging downwards; see attached diagrams for locked and disengaged states). Figure 3 ).

[0033] The lower track limiter 13 is a square shell with a through hole. The floating member II 12 is nested in the through hole of the lower track limiter 13, and then the lower track limiter 13 is installed into the support base 3. The upper surface of the support base 3 has an opening 31. The floating member II 12 has an upper edge around its perimeter. The upper edge of the floating member II 12 is located in the space formed by the upper surface of the lower track limiter 13 and the lower surface of the support base 3, and can float horizontally in this space. The lower parts of both sides of the support base 3 are provided with perforated mounting brackets 32, and the sides of the support base are provided with mounting seats 33. The mounting brackets and mounting seats 33 are used together to install the bistable mechanism 2.

[0034] During the installation of the electrical interface interconnection, the electrical interface of the floating component I11 and the suspended object moves upward. The electrical interface can drive the floating component II12, the floating component I11 and the electrical interface to make fine adjustments in the front-back and left-right directions, so as to achieve mutual compatibility between the electrical interfaces (upper interfaces) of different carriers and the electrical interfaces (lower interfaces) of the suspended object.

[0035] The fine-tuning in the front-back, left-right and right directions is achieved through the automatic centering component 14:

[0036] The automatic centering assembly 14 includes four elastic structural members 141-144, which may be, for example, leaf springs or spring sheets; one end of each elastic structural member is installed on the inner walls of the four sides of the lower limit member 13 of the track, and the other end is connected to the outer walls of the four sides of the floating member II 12 (see Appendix). Figure 4 There is a floating gap 18 between the floating part II12 and the through hole of the lower limit part 13 of the track; when all four elastic structural parts 141 to 144 are in a free state, the floating part II12 is located in the center of the electrical connector mounting contact plane. When the electrical interface is interconnected, the floating part II12 floats back and forth and left and right on the electrical connector mounting contact plane, and the four elastic structural parts 141 to 144 undergo elastic deformation. After the electrical interface is disassembled and separated, the floating part II12 returns to the center position under the elastic force of the four elastic structural parts 141 to 144.

[0037] The spring assembly 22 of the bistable mechanism 2 includes a spring 221, a spring cylinder 222, and a spring shaft 223, etc. (see appendix) Figure 5 The spring sleeve 222 and the spring shaft 223 are movably connected and nested inside the spring 221, and their stroke is adapted to the stroke of the spring 221; both the ends of the spring sleeve 222 and the spring shaft 223 have connecting lugs.

[0038] The plug-in rocker arm 21 includes a pair of arc-shaped parts. Each arc-shaped part has a connecting piece 24 on the outer arc at its rear end. The connecting piece 24 has a connecting hole. There is an angle of not less than 90° between the connecting piece 24 and the outer arc, so that the two form a "γ" shaped structure. The arc-shaped hole is opened from the front end to the middle of the arc-shaped part. A rotating shaft 25 is provided at the position where the arc-shaped part and the connecting piece intersect. The arc-shaped part and the connecting piece 24 are fixed to the rotating shaft 25. The end of the rotating shaft 25 is provided with an internal hexagon. The plug-in rocker arm 21 is installed in the support base 3. The two ends of the rotating shaft 25 are respectively assembled into the holes of the mounting brackets 32 on both sides of the support base 3.

[0039] The spring cylinder 222 is connected to the arc-shaped hinge on the plug-in rocker arm 21 via the connecting lug at its end, and the spring shaft 223 is connected to the mounting seat 33 on the side of the support seat 3 via the connecting lug at its end.

[0040] When installing (or removing) electrical interfaces, a wrench is used to drive the rotating shaft 25 of the plug-in rocker arm 21 to rotate through the internal hexagonal structure at the end of the rotating shaft 25. The rotating shaft drives the plug-in rocker arm 21 to rotate, thereby driving the bistable mechanism 2 to lock (connect the electrical connector to the carrier) or separate. Since the spring assembly 22 can rotate with the plug-in rocker arm 21 in both states, and the plug-in rocker arm is a structure, the spring assembly 22 is in a compressed state in the locked state (or separated state). Under the action of the spring force of the spring assembly, the reliability of the electrical connector connection (or separation) is achieved.

[0041] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and should all be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A locking and releasing device for an electrical connector, characterized in that, It includes a bushing-type floating mechanism (1), a bistable mechanism (2), and a support base (3), wherein: The bushing-type floating mechanism (1) includes a floating component I (11), a floating component II (12), a lower limit component of the track (13), and an automatic centering component; the inner cavity of the floating component I (11) is adapted to the size of the electrical interface of the suspended object, the electrical interface of the suspended object passes through the floating component I (11) and is fixedly connected to it by a positioning pin, and the cable at the rear end of the connector is connected to the electrical equipment of the suspended object through the inner cavity of the floating component I (11); Floating component I (11) is nested inside floating component II (12), and floating component I (11) can float up and down inside floating component II (12); The floating component II (12) is nested in the through hole of the lower limit component (13) of the track, and then the lower limit component (13) of the track is installed in the support base (3); the lower part of both sides of the support base (3) is provided with a mounting bracket (32) with holes, and the side of the support base is provided with a mounting base (33). The mounting bracket and the mounting base (33) are used together to install the bistable mechanism (2); The automatic centering component (14) includes four elastic structural members. One end of the elastic structural member is installed on the inner wall of the four sides of the lower limit member (13) of the track, and the other end is connected to the outer wall of the four sides of the floating member II (12). There is a floating gap (18) between the floating member II (12) and the through hole of the lower limit member (13). The bistable mechanism (2) includes a plug-in rocker arm (21) and a spring assembly (22), wherein the plug-in rocker arm (21) is installed in cooperation with the floating member I (11), and the spring assembly (22) connects the plug-in rocker arm (21) and the support base (3) through a connecting piece (24); The lower parts of both sides of the floating component I (11) are symmetrically provided with sliding columns (16), and the fixed plates (15) on both sides of the floating component II (12) are provided with waist-shaped holes (17) along the vertical direction. The sliding columns are assembled in the waist-shaped holes, and the vertical floating range of the floating component I (11) is limited by the waist-shaped holes. At the same time, after the sliding column of the floating component I (11) passes through the waist-shaped hole (17), it then passes through the arc-shaped hole (23) of the plug-in rocker arm (21) on the bistable mechanism (2). When the plug-in rocker arm (21) rotates, the floating component I (11) can slide in the arc-shaped hole of the plug-in rocker arm (21) and the waist-shaped hole of the floating component II (12) under the drive of the plug-in rocker arm (21), thereby driving the electrical connector to float up and down. The plug-in rocker arm (21) includes a pair of arc-shaped parts. A connecting piece (24) is provided on the outer arc of the rear end of each arc-shaped part. A connecting hole is provided on the connecting piece (24). There is an angle of not less than 90° between the connecting piece (24) and the outer arc, so that the two form a "γ" shaped structure. The arc-shaped hole is opened from the front end to the middle of the arc-shaped part. A rotating shaft (25) is provided at the position where the arc-shaped part and the connecting piece intersect. The arc-shaped part and the connecting piece (24) are fixed to the rotating shaft (25). The end of the rotating shaft (25) is provided with an internal hexagon, and the plug-in rocker arm (21) is installed in the support base (3). The two ends of the rotating shaft (25) are respectively assembled in the holes of the lower mounting brackets (32) on both sides of the support base (3).

2. The locking and releasing device for the electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The upper surface of the support base (3) has an opening (31), and the floating part II (12) has an upper edge around its perimeter. The upper edge of the floating part II (12) is located in the space formed by the upper surface of the lower limit part (13) of the track and the lower surface of the support base (3), and can float horizontally in this space.

3. The locking and releasing device for the electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, When all four elastic structural components are in a free state, floating component II (12) is located in the center of the electrical connector mounting contact plane. When the electrical interface is interconnected, floating component II (12) floats back and forth and left and right on the electrical connector mounting contact plane. The four elastic structural components undergo elastic deformation. After the electrical interface is disassembled and separated, floating component II (12) returns to the center position under the elastic force of the four elastic structural components.

4. The locking and releasing device for the electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The spring assembly (22) includes a spring (221), a spring sleeve (222), and a spring shaft (223); the spring sleeve (222) and the spring shaft (223) are movably connected and nested inside the spring (221), and their stroke is adapted to the stroke of the spring (221); the ends of the spring sleeve (222) and the spring shaft (223) are both provided with connecting lugs.

5. The locking and releasing device for the electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The spring cylinder (222) is connected to the arc-shaped hinge on the plug-in rocker arm (21) via the connecting lug at its end, and the spring shaft (223) is connected to the mounting seat (33) on the side of the support seat (3) via the connecting lug at its end.

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