CN111952768A

CN111952768A - Connector having sealing member provided on contact surface

Info

Publication number: CN111952768A
Application number: CN202010402661.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山田涉
Original assignee: Hirose Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hirose Electric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-14
Filing date: 2020-05-13
Publication date: 2020-11-17
Also published as: DE102020203637A1; TW202109996A; JP2020187912A

Abstract

Provided is a connector, which can reliably and easily mount a sealing member on a contact surface through a simple structure. A receiving groove is provided in a ring shape on a contact surface of the housing that contacts the object to be contacted, the receiving groove being recessed in a direction opposite to a contact direction with the object to be contacted, and having a polygonal shape in a surface direction of the contact surface. A plurality of clamping mechanisms are arranged at least at the corner of the polygonal accommodating groove and clamp the sealing component accommodated in the accommodating groove.

Description

Connector having sealing member provided on contact surface

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a connector in which a sealing member is provided on a contact surface, and more particularly, to a connector having a housing groove for housing a sealing member in a contact surface.

Background

Japanese patent laying-open No. 2008-60730 (patent document 1) discloses an example of a connector in which a sealing member is provided on a contact surface. The disclosed connector can be used in a manner of being mounted to a mounting hole of a panel, and includes: a synthetic resin case; a terminal fitting housed in the housing; and a sealing member which can be closely attached to the peripheral edge of the mounting hole. The housing includes: a terminal holding portion for holding a terminal fitting; and a cover portion (フード portion) to which the mating connector is fitted, wherein a flange portion is provided at a distal end portion of the cover portion over an entire circumference of the cover portion, and the flange portion forms a contact surface with a panel that is an object to be contacted. The flange portion has a hole portion to which an annular seal member is attached, and the connector can be brought into close contact with a predetermined portion of the panel when attached to the attachment hole of the panel.

Since the seal member is attached to the housing, an outward protrusion protruding outward and an inward protrusion protruding inward are provided at the seal member, and an outward hole portion accommodating the outward protrusion and an inward hole portion accommodating the inward protrusion are provided at the flange portion of the housing correspondingly.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2018-60730

In the connector of patent document 1, in order to attach the sealing member to the contact surface, a hole portion is provided in the flange portion, and a plurality of projections or the like matching the shape of the hole portion are provided in the sealing member correspondingly. However, such a complicated structure leads to an increase in size of the connector and the sealing member, complication of manufacturing and assembling processes, and an increase in manufacturing cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector in which a sealing member can be reliably and easily attached to a contact surface with a simple structure.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a connector according to an aspect of the present invention is a connector in which a receiving groove is provided in a ring shape on a contact surface of a housing that is in contact with an object to be contacted, the receiving groove is recessed in a direction opposite to a contact direction with the object to be contacted, the receiving groove is polygonal in a plane direction of the contact surface, a plurality of holding mechanisms are provided at least at corners of the polygonal receiving groove, and the holding mechanisms hold a sealing member received in the receiving groove.

According to the connector of this aspect, since the clamping mechanism that clamps the sealing member is provided at least at the corner portion of the housing groove provided in the contact surface, the sealing member can be reliably and easily attached to the contact surface without making the connector and the sealing member complicated.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that the connector further includes a through hole that is communicable with a hole provided in the object to be abutted when the connector is abutted against the object to be abutted, and the housing groove continuously surrounds an outer periphery of the through hole in the plane direction.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that another clamping means is provided in a portion of the housing groove other than the corner portion, in a state of being discontinuous from the clamping means provided in the corner portion, along a circumferential direction of the housing groove in the abutting surface.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that the dimension of the clamping means provided at the corner in the circumferential direction is larger than the dimension of the other clamping means in the circumferential direction.

In the connector of the above aspect, the holding means and/or the other holding means provided at the corner may be formed by reducing the dimension between the inner wall and the outer wall of the housing groove.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that the dimension is smaller than a dimension of a predetermined portion of the sealing member sandwiched between the inner wall and the outer wall.

In the connector of the above aspect, the holding means may be formed by projecting a part of the outer inner wall toward the inner wall.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that a depth of the housing groove in which the clamping mechanism is formed in a direction along the contact direction is smaller than a dimension of a predetermined portion of the sealing member clamped by the clamping mechanism having the depth.

In the connector of the above aspect, the housing groove may be provided in a flange portion of the connector housing.

In the connector of the above aspect, the housing groove may have a substantially rectangular shape in the plane direction.

In the connector of the above aspect, it is preferable that the sealing member is formed of an elastic member having a substantially constant thickness along a circumferential direction of the housing groove at the contact surface.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector in which a sealing member can be reliably and easily attached to a contact surface with a simple structure.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view of the connector of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged bottom view of the connector 1 corresponding to fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line a-a of fig. 4.

(symbol description)

1 connector

6 sealing member

10 outer casing

16A, 16B via

20 flange part

21 contact surface

30 holding groove

30A inner side wall

30B outer side wall

31A-31D clamping mechanism

32 clamping mechanism

Detailed Description

An electrical connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Further, the present invention can be used not only as an electrical connector but also as various other connectors such as an optical connector and the like.

A connector 1 of the present invention is shown in side view in fig. 1, in bottom view in fig. 2, and in exploded perspective view in fig. 3.

The connector 1 comprises at least a housing 10. In actual use, a part of the housing 10 is used in a state of being in contact with an object to be contacted, for example, a case (not shown). As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the contact surface 21 that contacts the object to be contacted may be formed by the flange portion 20 of the housing 10. The flange portion 20 is provided with a projection 12 for positioning at a predetermined position of the object to be abutted when the flange portion is abutted against the object to be abutted, in addition to a screw hole 22 to which a screw 3 for fixing the connector 1 to the object to be abutted is attached.

The mating connector (not shown) can be fitted and connected to the connector 1. A substantially cylindrical fitting projection 11 is provided on the fitting side (here, the upper side) of the housing 10 so as to fit and connect the mating connectors. A groove 11A to which the gasket 4 can be attached is formed in the outer periphery of the fitting projection 11. When connecting with the counterpart connector, the gap of the fitting portion with the counterpart connector can be filled by the gasket 4. Further, a pair of locking members 15 are provided at opposite positions across the fitting projection 11. For example, by engaging a predetermined portion (movable engaging portion) provided in the mating connector with each of these engaging members 15, the connection state of the connector 1 and the mating connector can be maintained (see, for example, japanese patent laid-open No. 2015 and 050160).

At the fitting projection 11, a through hole 16, for example, two through

holes

16A, 16B in this case, partitioned by a partition wall 17 is provided. These through

holes

16A and 16B can communicate with through holes provided in the abutting object. An inner case formed to match the size of each through

hole

16A, 16B is provided in these through

holes

16A, 16B. The inner housing 19 is shown particularly schematically in fig. 1 as being provided in the through-opening 16A. As for the inner case provided in the through hole 16B, although not shown, it is also conceivable to provide the same inner case as the inner case 19 at the through hole 16B in the same manner as the inner case 19. The inner housing 19 is inserted into the through hole 16A along the direction of arrow "a 1". The inner housing 19 includes: an outer portion 19A fitted into the through hole 16A and locked to the inner wall of the through hole 16A; and a plate-like portion 19B extending from the outer portion 19A so as to close the through hole 19A. A plurality of holes 19a capable of supporting the terminals 25 are provided at the plate-like portion 19B. When the inner case 19 is provided in the through hole 16A, the terminal 25 is supported at a predetermined position of the case 20 in a state of being exposed from the inner case 19 on the upper side and the lower side and penetrating the through hole 16A. Further, in japanese patent laid-open nos. 2018-206502 and 2018-206501, the structures of the inner housing and the terminal are explained in more detail as examples.

When the connector 1 is brought into contact with an object to be contacted, the terminal on the connector 1 side supported by the inner housing is passed through the through hole 16 of the connector 1 and the through hole provided in the object to be contacted, and is connected to a connection partner (not shown) such as a terminal provided on the object side to be contacted. As a result, by connecting the counterpart connector to the connector 1, the terminal provided on the counterpart connector and the connection counterpart provided on the abutted object side can be electrically connected via the connector 1. In the case of such a configuration, water or dust may penetrate into the inside of the contact object or the like through the through hole 16 of the connector 1 or the through hole of the contact object communicating therewith, but such a risk can be greatly reduced by providing the seal member 6.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged bottom view of the connector 1 corresponding to fig. 2, and fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line a-a of fig. 4. In order to improve the waterproof/dustproof function, in the illustrated embodiment, the contact surface 21 that contacts the contacted object is provided with a housing groove 30 at the flange portion 20 of the housing 10, and the housing groove 30 is recessed in a direction "a 2" opposite to a contact direction "a 1" with respect to the contacted object. In the housing groove 30, a seal member 6 is embedded in a depth direction "α" along the contact direction "α 1", and the seal member 6 is formed of, for example, a resin and has an elastic action. The sealing member 6 has a substantially constant thickness along the circumferential direction "θ" of the housing groove 30 of the abutment surface 21. By making the sealing member 6 constant in thickness, simplification of design and manufacturing can be achieved.

The sealing member 6 accommodated in the accommodating groove 30 is fixed at a predetermined position by the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D formed by the accommodating groove 30. Since the depth "t" of the housing groove 30 in the depth direction "a" is set to be smaller than the dimensions "a" and "B" of the predetermined portion of the seal member 6 held by the holding mechanisms 31A to 31D, the

portions

6A and 6B of the seal member 6 can protrude from the housing groove 30 in the depth direction "a" even after the seal member 6 is housed in the housing groove 30. By providing

such projections

6A and 6B, when the connector 1 is fixed to the object to be abutted, the sealing member 6 accommodated in the accommodating groove 30 of the flange portion 20 is sandwiched between the object to be abutted and the abutment surface 21 in a state of being in close contact with the object to be abutted, and the waterproof and dustproof functions are exhibited.

The housing groove 30 is provided in a loop shape along the circumferential direction "θ" so as to continuously surround the outer periphery of the through hole 16 in the surface direction ("β - γ direction") of the contact surface 21. The housing groove 30 is provided in a polygonal shape in the plane direction ("β - γ direction"), and is substantially rectangular in the present embodiment. The sealing member 6 is preformed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the housing groove 30 in the planar direction ("β - γ" direction).

The clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D are provided at least at the corners of the polygon formed in the housing groove 30. If the sealing member 6 accommodated in the accommodating groove 30 is accidentally dropped at the corner portion, the entire sealing member is relatively easily dropped, but the clamping force of the corner portion, which is easily stressed on the sealing member 6, is increased by providing the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D at least at the corner portion as in the present configuration, and the sealing member 6 can be reliably fixed by the contact surface 21 without making the connector 1 and the sealing member 6 complicated.

The clamp mechanisms 31A to 31D may be formed by projecting a part of the outer inner wall 30B of the housing groove 30, for example, the entire wall surface along the depth direction "a" toward the inner wall 30A. Thereby, at the above-described corner portion, the dimension "h" between the inner side inner wall 30A and the outer side inner wall 30B can be made smaller than the corresponding dimension "g" at the portion other than the corner portion, the dimension "a" before deformation of the seal member 6 sandwiched therebetween, and the seal member 6 can be elastically deformed to the dimension "a" "corresponding to the dimension" h "for sandwiching. Due to the elastic deformation, the portion 6B of the seal member 6 protrudes more than the normal protruding portion 6A in the abutment direction "a 1" with respect to the object to be abutted at the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D. When the sealing member 6 is compressed by coming into contact with the object to be contacted, the entire projection 6B is separated and pushed and expanded in the surface direction ("β - γ direction") inside the housing groove 30, and as a result, the sealing member 6 is more firmly fixed to the housing groove 30.

In order to effectively prevent the seal member 6 from coming off the housing groove 30, it is preferable that, in addition to the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D provided at the corner portions, another clamping mechanism 32 is provided along the circumferential direction "θ" of the housing groove 30 of the abutment surface 21 in a state of being discontinuous from the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D. In the case where the other clamping mechanism 32 is provided, as in the case where the clamping mechanisms 31A to 31D are provided at the corners, the part 6B of the seal member 6 can be made to protrude more than the normal protruding portion 6A in the abutment direction "a 1" with respect to the abutment object, and therefore, when the seal member 6 is compressed by abutting the abutment object, the entire seal member 6 is separated and pushed and expanded in the surface direction ("β - γ" direction) into the concave-convex shape inside the housing groove 30, and as a result, the seal member 6 can be more firmly fixed to the housing groove 30. In this case, it is preferable that the dimension "m" in the circumferential direction "θ" of the gripping mechanisms 31A to 31D provided at the corner be set to be larger than the dimension "m" in the circumferential direction "θ" of the other gripping mechanism 32. By setting the size to such a size, the sealing member 6 can be more firmly fixed than the other linear portions at the corner portions that are considered to be effective for fixing the sealing member 6.

Other embodiments, features, and advantages of the present invention, including the best mode for carrying out the present invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description, which shows only a variety of specific embodiments and examples. The present invention may be configured as other embodiments and different embodiments, and the plurality of parts thereof may be modified in various clear points without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and the invention is not limited thereto.

Claims

1. A connector, characterized in that,

a receiving groove is provided in a ring shape on a contact surface of the housing that contacts the object to be contacted, the receiving groove being recessed in a direction opposite to a contact direction with the object to be contacted and having a polygonal shape in a surface direction of the contact surface,

a plurality of holding mechanisms are provided at least at corners of the polygonal housing groove, and hold the sealing member housed in the housing groove.

2. The connector of claim 1,

the connector further has a through hole that can communicate with a hole provided in the object to be abutted when the connector is abutted against the object to be abutted,

the housing groove continuously surrounds the periphery of the through hole in the plane direction.

3. The connector of claim 1 or 2,

at a portion of the housing groove other than the corner portion, another clamping mechanism is provided along a circumferential direction of the housing groove at the abutting surface in a state of being discontinuous from the clamping mechanism provided at the corner portion.

4. The connector of claim 3,

the dimension of the gripping mechanism provided at the corner in the circumferential direction is larger than the dimension of the other gripping mechanism in the circumferential direction.

5. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the holding mechanism and/or the other holding mechanism provided at the corner portion is formed by reducing the dimension between the inner side inner wall and the outer side inner wall of the housing groove.

6. The connector of claim 5,

the dimension is smaller than a dimension of a prescribed portion of the sealing member sandwiched between the inner side inner wall and the outer side inner wall.

7. The connector of claim 5 or 6,

the clamping mechanism is formed by protruding a part of the outer inner wall toward the inner wall side.

8. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the depth of the housing groove in which the clamping mechanism is formed in the direction along the contact direction is smaller than the dimension of a predetermined portion of the sealing member clamped by the clamping mechanism having the depth.

9. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

the receiving groove is provided in the flange portion of the connector housing.

10. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the housing groove has a substantially rectangular shape in the plane direction.

11. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 10,

the seal member is constituted by an elastic member having a substantially constant thickness along a circumferential direction of the housing groove at the abutment surface.