JP2533930Y2 - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connector provided with a waterproof plug for sealing between a connector housing and an electric wire.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional waterproof connector, for example, there is one shown in FIG. 8 similar to that described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-76776. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the female connector 1 as a waterproof connector, in which a terminal housing chamber 7 is formed at a front portion in a connector housing 5 provided with a hood 3 at a distal end, and a waterproof plug mounting portion 9 is formed at a rear portion. Have been. A male terminal 13 crimped and connected to the electric wire 11 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 7, and the male electric connection portion 15 faces the inside of the hood 3. As shown in FIG. 9, a rubber waterproof plug 17 is attached to the electric wire 11 immediately after the male terminal 13.
Are fitted, and the outer periphery thereof is connected to the connector housing 5.
Is in elastic contact with the waterproof plug mounting portion 9. Although not shown, the male connector to be connected to the female connector 1 is also sealed by the same structure, and the male connector (not shown) is connected to the female connector 1 so that the waterproof plug of the female connector 1 is sealed. 17 and the waterproof plug of the male connector (not shown) can waterproof the inside of the connector.

[0003]

However, in such a structure, the waterproof plug 17 previously mounted on the electric wire 11 is forcibly pushed into the waterproof plug mounting portion 9 together with the housing of the male terminal 13 and is pushed in the radial direction. In this structure, the inner surface of the waterproof plug mounting portion 9 and the inner surface of the electric wire 11 are tightly sealed by being crushed, so that the sealing function becomes insufficient or the pressing operation becomes difficult. There was a problem that it could not respond to the change.

That is, as described above, since the sealing is performed only by forcibly pushing the waterproof plug 17 into the waterproof plug mounting portion 9, if the pushing operation is to be facilitated, the inner diameter of the waterproof plug mounting portion 9 is reduced. On the other hand, the outer diameter of the waterproof plug 17 cannot be so large, a sufficient crushing allowance cannot be secured, and the sealing function may be insufficient.

On the other hand, when a sufficient sealing function is to be ensured,
Although the outer diameter of the waterproof plug 17 is made larger than the inner diameter of the waterproof plug mounting portion 9 to secure a sufficient crushing allowance, there is a problem that it is difficult to push the waterproof plug 17 into the waterproof plug mounting portion 9.

It is good if the thickness of the electric wire 11 has a specified size with respect to the inner diameter of the waterproof plug 17 and a sufficient sealing function can be ensured by pushing the waterproof plug 17 into place. As shown in FIG. 9, when the thickness of the electric wire 11 is smaller than the inner diameter of the waterproof plug 17 and a gap e is formed between the waterproof plug 17 and the electric wire 11, a sufficient sealing function can be exhibited. There was a problem that it was not possible to cope with a change in the thickness of the electric wire.

In addition, the waterproof plug 17 must be fitted to the electric wire 11 before the male terminal 13 is crimped to the electric wire 11, so that there is a problem that the degree of freedom of the mounting operation is restricted.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a waterproof connector which ensures a sufficient sealing function, facilitates the work of loading a waterproof plug, increases the degree of freedom of mounting work, and can cope with a change in the thickness of an electric wire. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a terminal housing chamber at a front portion of a connector housing, a waterproof plug mounting portion at a rear portion, and a locking portion at a rear end opening. It has a waterproof plug holder inserted into the rear end opening,
The waterproof plug holder is provided with a temporary engaging portion for temporary engagement and a full engaging portion for full engagement to be locked to the locking portion, and a terminal insertion hole communicating with the waterproof plug mounting portion is provided. The waterproof plug mounting portion is loaded with a bellows-shaped waterproof plug for sealing between the electric wire inserted from the rear end opening portion and the main engagement portion is brought into a position where the main engagement portion engages with the locking portion. The waterproof plug holder is inserted to compress the bellows-like portion of the waterproof plug in the insertion direction and to expand in the inner and outer peripheral directions.

[0010]

When installing, the bellows-shaped waterproof plug is stored in the waterproof plug mounting portion, the waterproof plug holder is inserted into the rear end opening of the connector housing, and the temporary engaging portion is engaged with the locking portion of the rear end opening. To make a temporary engagement state. Next, the terminal connected to the electric wire is inserted from the terminal insertion hole of the waterproof plug holder, and is stored in the terminal accommodating chamber through the inner diameter portion of the bellows-shaped waterproof plug. In this state, the electric wire on the rear side of the terminal is inserted through the inner diameter of the bellows-shaped waterproof plug.

Then, the waterproof plug holder is further pushed in, and the main engaging portion is engaged with the engaging portion at the rear end opening to bring the main engaging state. As a result, the bellows-shaped waterproof plug is compressed in the insertion direction, so that the outer periphery is expanded and the inner periphery is contracted. Therefore, the outer periphery of the waterproof plug is in close contact with the inner periphery of the waterproof plug mounting portion, and the inner periphery is in close contact with the electric wire. Thereby, even for a thin electric wire, the extra spread to the inner circumference is compensated for by the outer spread, and it corresponds to thinning.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention before a waterproof plug is attached, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main portion in a temporarily engaged state. 1 shows a female connector 1. Therefore, the connector housing 5 has the hood 3 at the tip, the terminal housings 7a and 7b at the front, and the waterproof plug mounting portion 9 at the rear. The waterproof plug mounting portion 9 is configured by projecting cylindrical seal cavities 19a and 19b at the rear ends of the terminal accommodating chambers 7a and 7b, and the rear portion 21 of the connector housing 5 is located therearound. Has become.

The rear end opening 23 of the connector housing 5 protrudes slightly rearward from the seal cavities 19a, 19b, and has locking portions 25a, 25b formed by rectangular through holes on both left and right sides. I have.

The female connector 1 further includes bellows-shaped waterproof plugs 27a and 27b to be loaded in the waterproof plug mounting portion 9,
A waterproof plug holder 29 is provided to be inserted into the rear end opening 23 of the connector housing 5.

On the side surface of the waterproof plug holder 29, temporary engaging portions 31a and 31b for temporary engagement which are locked by the locking portions 25a and 25b of the rear end opening 23, and full engagement for full engagement. The parts 33a and 33b are continuously provided in the insertion direction.
The waterproof plug holder 29 has a terminal insertion hole 35 communicating with the seal cavities 19a and 19b of the waterproof plug mounting portion 9.
a, 35b are provided.

At the time of assembly, waterproof plugs 27a, 27b
Of the seal cavities 19a, 1
9b, the waterproof plug holder 29 is inserted into the rear end opening 23 of the connector housing 5 as shown in FIG.

That is, the waterproof plug holder 29 is opposed to the rear end opening 23, and is pushed in as it is to temporarily engage the temporary engaging portions 31a, 3a.
1b is locked to locking portions 25a and 25b. In this state, the waterproof plugs 27a and 27b are not compressed, and are in a state of lightly contacting the end face of the waterproof plug holder 29 while protruding from the seal cavities 19a and 19b of the waterproof plug mounting portion 9. Therefore, the bellows 2 of the waterproof plugs 27a, 27b
8a and 28b are not deformed at all and the inner periphery is widened, so that the male terminal 13 connected to the electric wire 11 is inserted from the terminal insertion holes 35a and 35b of the waterproof plug holder 29, and The waterproof plugs 27a, 27b are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers 7a, 7b through the inner peripheral portions thereof. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the electric wire 11 immediately after the male terminal 13 is connected to the waterproof plugs 27a and 27.
b. When the male terminal 13 is inserted, since the waterproof plugs 27a and 27b are in a spread state as described above, the insertion operation is extremely easy.

The waterproof plug holder 29 is further pushed in,
As shown in FIG. 4, the engagement portions 33a and 33b are
When the waterproof plug 25a is locked, the waterproof plug holder 29 is fully engaged, and the waterproof plugs 27a and 27b are entirely pressed into the seal cavities 19a and 19b to be in a compressed state.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
The point P of a, 28b draws the locus of the circular arc l and
Only inflated state. For this reason, the waterproof plugs 27a, 2
The inner and outer circumferences of 7b are the electric wire 11 and the seal cavities 19a,
The seal can be securely brought into close contact with the inner periphery of the 19b. At the same time, when the waterproof plugs 27a, 27b are loaded into the seal cavities 19a, 19b, since the inner and outer peripheries of the waterproof plugs 27a, 27b are not expanded, the loading operation becomes extremely easy. Further, it is not necessary to attach the waterproof plugs 27a and 27b to the electric wire 11 in advance, and the degree of freedom of operation increases. Furthermore, in order to secure a seal by crushing the bellows 28a, 28b,
Even if the thickness of the electric wire 11 is changed, it is possible to cope with the change.

In the above embodiment, the waterproof plug holder and the waterproof plug are configured as separate components, but they may be integrally formed. In this case, since the waterproof plug and the waterproof plug holder can be integrally handled, the loading operation of the waterproof plug can be performed more easily.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view of the waterproof plug holder 29 and the waterproof plug 37. The waterproof plug 37 has a single large diameter. 1 waterproof plug 3
9 and four small-diameter second waterproof plugs 41a to 41d. Each of the first and second waterproof plugs 39, 41a to 41d has a bellows shape with one mountain, and one end thereof is fixed to the waterproof plug holder 29 by bonding or the like. However, similarly to the above embodiment, the first and second waterproof plugs 39, 41a to 41d and the waterproof plug holder 29 may have a separated structure.

On the other hand, the outer peripheral portion of the seal cavity 43 has a ring shape, and the inside thereof forms a housing portion 43a for the second waterproof plugs 41a to 41d.

When the waterproof plug holder 29 is inserted into the rear end opening 23 of the connector housing 5 and temporarily engaged as shown in FIG. 7, the first waterproof plug 39 is connected to the outer periphery of the seal cavity 43 and the connector housing 5. The second waterproof plugs 41a to 41d are inserted into the housing 43a.

Therefore, when the waterproof plug holder 29 is fully engaged, the outer periphery of the seal cavity 43 and the inner periphery of the rear portion 21 of the connector housing 5 are sealed by compression of the first waterproof plug 39 in the insertion direction. , Each second waterproof plug 41a-
The compression of the sealing cavity 4 by the compression in the insertion direction of 41d
3 and the electric wire 11 are sealed.

Thus, in addition to the same operation and effect as the above embodiment, the sealing can be performed both inside and outside the seal cavity 43, and the sealing performance is further improved.

[0027]

As is clear from the above, according to the structure of the present invention, the sealing function can be improved while the operation of loading the waterproof plug and the operation of inserting the terminal can be facilitated. Further, it is possible to easily cope with a change in the thickness of the electric wire.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main part.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a waterproof plug and a waterproof plug holder according to another embodiment.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing the waterproof plug in a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6 and showing a state where the waterproof plug is attached to the female connector.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view according to a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view when the electric wire diameter is changed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Female connector (waterproof connector) 5 Connector housing 7a Terminal accommodating chamber 7b Terminal accommodating chamber 9 Waterproof plug mounting part 21 Rear part of connector housing 23 Rear end opening 25a Locking part 25b Locking part 27a Waterproof plug 27b Waterproof plug 29 Waterproof Plug holder 31a Temporary engaging portion 31b Temporary engaging portion 33a Main engaging portion 33b Main engaging portion 35a Terminal insertion hole 35b Terminal insertion hole 37 Waterproof plug 39 First waterproof plug 41a Second waterproof plug 41b Second waterproof plug 41c 2 waterproof stopper 41d 2nd waterproof stopper

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A connector housing formed at a front portion of the connector housing, a waterproof plug mounting portion at a rear portion, a locking portion at a rear end opening, and a waterproof plug holder inserted into the rear end opening;
The waterproof plug holder is provided with a temporary engaging portion for temporary engagement and a full engaging portion for full engagement to be locked to the locking portion, and a terminal insertion hole communicating with the waterproof plug mounting portion is provided. The waterproof plug mounting portion is loaded with a bellows-shaped waterproof plug for sealing between the electric wire inserted from the rear end opening portion and the main engagement portion is brought into a position where the main engagement portion engages with the locking portion. A waterproof connector characterized in that a waterproof plug holder is inserted to compress the bellows-like portion of the waterproof plug in the insertion direction and to expand in the inner and outer peripheral directions.