JP2000164292A - Waterproof connector and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent unexpected entry of a sealing material. SOLUTION: A storage recess 13 is formed in an enlarged portion 12 formed on the rear face of a housing 1. An antirunning plate 15 formed of elastic material and provided with a through hole 16 closely passing through a wire 8 is fitted to the corner side of the storage recess 13 and a filling space 20 is formed on the rear face side. A female-side terminal fitting 3 is stored in a cavity 2 in the state that the wire 8 is adhered to the inner periphery of the through hole 16. The housing 1 is set in vertical attitude with the filling space 20 turned up and hot melt is filled in the filling space 20 through a nozzle 21. The antirunning plate 15 completely blocks the cavity 2 at its inlet side including around the wire 8, preventing the hot melt from entering into the cavity 2. With passage of time, the hot melt in the filling space 20 is solidified and then a seal on the rear face side of the housing 1 is removed.

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 so-called collective waterproofing means and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a connector provided with waterproof means, a waterproof plug is provided behind a terminal fitting, and the terminal fitting is housed in a cavity of a housing, and the entrance of the cavity is individually sealed with the waterproof plug. Things are known. This method has a problem that the assembling work is troublesome, especially when a multi-pole connector is used. Therefore, a sealing material filling space communicating with each cavity is provided on the rear surface of the housing so that waterproofing can be performed collectively, and the terminal fitting is housed in the cavity with the entrance closed by a barrel portion crimped with an electric wire, for example, After that, the sealing material such as hot melt is injected into the filling space and solidified by a part thereof.

[0003]

In this method, however, there is a possibility that a gap may be formed even when the entrance of the cavity is closed by the barrel portion, and the injected sealing material may enter the cavity through the gap. There is a danger that it may fall into the terminal fittings or adhere to the outer surface, causing poor contact with the terminal fittings of the other party, and dislike the lack of reliability. The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a collective waterproof connector that can prevent unnecessary intrusion of a sealing material.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waterproof connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a housing recess is formed on a rear surface of a connector housing in which a plurality of cavities are arranged. On the back side of this storage recess,
A flow stop plate made of an elastic material provided with through holes for tightly penetrating the electric wire at respective positions corresponding to the respective cavities is mounted, and a terminal fitting connected to an end of the electric wire penetrates the flow stop plate. It is housed in the corresponding cavity, and is characterized in that a sealing material is filled in the front side of the flow stop plate.

In the waterproof connector according to the second aspect of the present invention, a housing recess is formed on the rear surface of the connector housing having a plurality of rows of cavities into which terminal fittings connected to the ends of the electric wires are inserted. On the side, a flow stop plate made of an elastic material provided with a through hole for tightly penetrating the electric wire at each position corresponding to each cavity is mounted, and on the front side of the flow stop plate, solidifies at room temperature. A sealing plate made of a sealing material having a characteristic of melting at a temperature higher than room temperature and having an opening for insertion of the terminal fitting and an electric wire is provided, and the sealing plate is solidified after melting. This is characterized in that a sealing material is filled on the front side of the flow stop plate. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, a cover for preventing the seal plate from coming off is attached to a rear end of the connector housing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a waterproof connector, wherein a plurality of cavities into which terminal fittings connected to the ends of the electric wires are inserted are provided in housing recesses provided on the rear surface of the connector housing. A flow-stop plate made of an elastic material provided with through holes for tightly penetrating the electric wire at positions corresponding to the respective cavities, and a sealing material having characteristics of solidifying at room temperature and melting at a temperature higher than room temperature. Formed, and sequentially mounted with the terminal fittings and a sealing plate having an opening through which a wire is allowed to be inserted, and passing the terminal fitting through the through-hole of the flow stop plate from the insertion hole of the sealing plate. It is characterized in that after being inserted into the cavity, the area around the seal plate is heated.

[0007]

The terminal fitting is inserted into the corresponding cavity while elastically deforming the through hole of the flow stop plate mounted on the back side of the accommodation recess, and is connected to the terminal fitting. The inner peripheral surface of the through-hole adheres to the electric wire.
After that, the sealing material is filled in the front side of the flow stop plate and solidified. The flow stop plate is arranged on the front side of the cavity in close contact with the outer periphery of the electric wire, and the sealing material is filled on the front side, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the sealing material from entering the cavity.

<Inventions of Claims 2 and 4> In the housing recess of the connector housing, a seal plate is mounted in advance after the flow stopper plate. The terminal fitting is inserted into the corresponding cavity while elastically deforming the through-hole of the flow stopper plate through the insertion hole of the seal plate, and the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole closely contacts the electric wire connected to the terminal fitting. Thereafter, when the area around the housing concave portion is heated, the sealing material constituting the sealing plate is melted and filled on one surface on the front side of the flow stop plate, and when returning to normal temperature, the sealing material solidifies. In addition to preventing the melted sealing material from entering the cavity by the flow stop plate, the sealing plate is installed in advance, and the sealing material can be filled only by inserting the terminal fittings into the cavity and then heating. In addition, the step of injecting the sealing material can be omitted, and the manufacturing process can be simplified.

<Invention of Claim 3> Since the cover for preventing the seal plate from coming off is provided, the connector housing can be handled in a state where the flow stopper plate and the seal plate are assembled before the terminal fitting is inserted, and the connector housing can be handled. It becomes convenient.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector of this embodiment is a female waterproof connector, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a connector housing 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a housing) made of a synthetic resin having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. In the housing 1, six cavities 2 shown in the front-rear direction are formed side by side in two upper and lower stages, and the rear end side (the right side in FIG. 1) serves as an entrance. The female terminal fitting 3 is inserted from behind.

As shown in FIG. 4, the female terminal fitting 3 has a box-shaped connecting portion 4 with a built-in elastic contact piece, and is crimped to the end of the electric wire 8 by a barrel 5 provided behind the connecting portion. I have. When the female terminal fitting 3 is properly inserted into the cavity 2, the female terminal fitting 3 is locked in a locking state by a lance 9 provided on the bottom surface of the cavity 2.

At the rear end of the housing 1, there is formed a rectangular widened portion 12 which is widened over the entire circumference. In the center of the widened portion 12, the front side communicates with the entrance of each cavity 2 and the rear surface is opened. The formed accommodation recess 13 is formed. As shown in FIG. 2, the area of the housing recess 13 is formed to be slightly larger than the area where the entrances of the six cavities 2 are provided.

A flow stop plate 15 is provided at the back of the accommodation recess 13.
Is fitted. The flow stopper plate 15 is made of rubber, and as shown in FIG. 3, is formed in a square shape that is tightly fitted in the accommodation recess 13 and
At a position corresponding to each cavity 2, a circular through-hole 16 that penetrates the electric wire 8 to which the female terminal fitting 3 is crimped is formed. Two lips 17 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 16 so that the lip 17 can elastically adhere to the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 8. The outer peripheral surface of the flow stopper plate 15 is also formed with two lips 18 that elastically adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the housing recess 13. The front side of the flow stop plate 15 in the accommodation recess 13 is hot melt H
The filling space 20 is filled with the sealing material.

Subsequently, an assembling procedure of the first embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the flow stop plate 15 is fitted on the back side of the housing recess 13 of the housing 1. Next, as shown by the arrow in the figure, the female terminal fitting 3 is inserted into the corresponding cavity 2 from behind. The female terminal fitting 3 is pushed in while expanding the through hole 16 of the flow stopper plate 15,
When pushed into the cavity 2 to the proper position, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the electric wire 8 to which the female terminal fitting 3 was crimped was inserted into the through hole 16 of the flow stopper plate 15, and the lip 17 on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 16 was pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 8. State.

When all the female terminal fittings 3 are accommodated,
As shown in FIG. 5, the housing 1 is set in a vertical position with the filling space 20 facing upward, and the hot melt H in a molten state is injected and filled into the filling space 20 by the nozzle 21. While the hot melt H is being filled, the entrance side of the cavity 2 including the periphery of the electric wire 8 is completely closed by the flow stop plate 15, and the hot melt H does not enter the cavity 2 side. After a lapse of time, as shown in FIG. 6, the hot melt H in the filling space 20 is solidified, and the seal on the rear surface side of the housing 1 is removed.

That is, according to the first embodiment, since the flow stop plate 15 is disposed on the back side of the accommodation recess 13 so as to completely close the entrance of the cavity 2, the filling space 2
0 is filled with hot melt H, hot melt H
Is reliably prevented from entering the cavity 2.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a seal plate 32 is formed in advance by hot melt H and a cover 35 for preventing the seal plate 32 from coming off is provided. In the following, the differences will be mainly described, and the portions having the same functions as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will be simplified or omitted. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.
2 are formed, and a housing recess 13 is formed at the center thereof. A similar flow stop plate 15 is fitted on the back side of the housing recess 13.

A seal plate 32 is provided on the rear surface of the flow stop plate 15.
Is to be mounted. The seal plate 32 is formed of hot melt H. The hot melt H solidifies at normal temperature and melts at a relatively low temperature as compared with the housing 31, the flow stopper 15, the electric wire 8 and the cover 35. It is possible to do. As shown in FIG. 9, the seal plate 32 has a square shape that fits in the accommodation recess 13,
A circular insertion hole 33 that allows the insertion of the female terminal fitting 3 is formed at each position corresponding to the cavity 2.

A seal plate 32 is provided on the rear surface of the housing 31.
A cover 35 that functions to prevent the cover from coming off is attached. This cover 35 is made of synthetic resin,
The widened portion 12 is formed in a shape that can be completely covered from the rear surface to the outer peripheral surface. This cover 3
In FIG. 5, six window holes 36 for allowing insertion of the female terminal fitting 3 are formed in a lattice shape corresponding to the cavity 2 as shown in FIG. Locking projections 38 are projected from upper and lower surfaces of the widened portion 12, and locking holes 39 into which the locking protrusions 38 fit are formed on upper and lower surfaces of the cover 35.

Subsequently, an assembling procedure of the second embodiment will be described. First, a flow stopper plate 15 is fitted on the inner side of the housing recess 13 of the housing 31, and the outer surface of the flow stopper plate 15 is closely attached to the inner circumferential surface of the housing recess 13 while crushing the lip 18. Next, the seal plate 32 is brought into contact with the rear surface of the flow stopper plate 15. Subsequently, the cover 35 is fitted around the widened portion 12 of the housing 31. When the cover 35 is pushed into the normal position, as shown in FIG.
Are fitted in the locking holes 39 to fix the cover 35. Thus, the assembly of the housing 31 is completed and the female terminal fitting 3 is transported to the accommodation work site. During this time, the seal plate 32 is prevented from coming off by the cover 35, and the housing 31 can be handled as one assembled part, which is convenient for handling.

When the female terminal fitting 3 is to be accommodated, see FIG.
, The female terminal fitting 3 is inserted into a predetermined window hole 36 opened in the cover 35. Female terminal fitting 3
Are the window holes 36 of the cover 35 and the insertion holes 3 of the seal plate 32.
After passing through the through hole 3, the through hole 16 of the flow stopper plate 15 is expanded and pushed into the cavity 2. When the lance 9 is inserted to the normal position in the cavity 2, it is locked in a locking state by the lance 9 as shown in FIG. 12. On the other hand, the electric wire 8 to which the female terminal fitting 3 was crimped was inserted into the through hole 16 of the flow stopper plate 15, and the lip 17 on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 16 was pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 8. State.

When all the female terminal fittings 3 are accommodated,
The housing 31 is set in a heating device (not shown) with the rear end of the housing 31 in a vertical position with the rear end facing upward, and the area around the widened portion 12 is heated. Then, the hot melt H forming the seal plate 32 is melted and filled in the upper surface of the flow stop plate 15. During this time, since the entrance side of the cavity 2 including the periphery of the electric wire 8 is completely closed by the flow stopper plate 15, the hot melt H does not enter the cavity 2 side. When the heating was stopped and the area around the widened portion 12 returned to normal temperature, the hot melt H solidified, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the seal on the rear side of the housing 31 is removed.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the sealing plate 32 made of hot melt H is previously mounted on the rear surface side of the flow stopper plate 15 in the housing recess 13 of the housing 31 and the female terminal is provided. Since the hot melt H can be filled only by inserting the metal fittings 3 into the cavity 2 and then heating, it is not necessary to provide a hot melt H inflow step, and the manufacturing process can be simplified.

Of course, when the sealing plate 32 is heated and melted, the hot melt H
Is prevented from entering the cavity 2. Further, since the cover 35 for preventing the seal plate 32 from coming off is provided, the housing 31 can be handled in a state where the flow stopper plate 15 and the seal plate 32 are assembled before the female terminal fitting 3 is inserted. It becomes convenient.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above-described second embodiment, the seal plate is newly fitted to the rear surface of the flow stop plate. However, a fitting recess is formed in the rear surface of the flow stop plate, and the elasticity of the flow stop plate is used. Then, the seal plate may be fitted in the fitting recess in advance. Flow stop plate and seal plate can be treated as one part,
It becomes better by handling.

(2) In the second embodiment, the seal plate may be attached immediately before the insertion work of the female terminal fitting, so that the cover can be removed. Also included in the present invention. (3) The present invention can be similarly applied to the male waterproof connector.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a housing.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the flow stop plate.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of inserting the female terminal fitting.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a hot melt injection operation.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view when filling of a hot melt is completed.

FIG. 7 is an exploded sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the housing.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the seal plate.

FIG. 10 is a rear view of the cover.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of inserting the female terminal fitting.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view when the insertion of the female terminal fitting is completed.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view when filling of a hot melt is completed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector housing 2 ... Cavity 3 ... Female terminal fitting 8 ... Electric wire 12 ... Wide part 13 ... Accommodation concave part 15 ... Flow stop plate 16 ... Through hole 17 ... Lip 18 ... Lip 20 ... Filling space 21 ... Nozzle H ... Hot melt (Seal material) 31 ... housing 32 ... seal plate 33 ... insertion hole 35 ... cover

Claims (4)

[Claims] An accommodating recess is formed in a rear surface of a connector housing in which a plurality of cavities are arranged in a row, and a through hole for allowing an electric wire to penetrate tightly is provided at a position corresponding to each cavity in a deep side of the accommodating recess. A flow stopper plate made of an elastic material provided is mounted, and a terminal fitting connected to an end of the electric wire is housed in a corresponding cavity through the flow stopper plate, and a seal is provided on a front side of the flow stopper plate. A waterproof connector characterized by being filled with a material. 2. A receiving recess is formed on a rear surface of a connector housing in which a plurality of rows of cavities into which terminal fittings connected to terminals of electric wires are inserted are formed.
A flow stop plate made of an elastic material provided with a through hole for tightly penetrating the electric wire at each position corresponding to each cavity is mounted, and on the front side of the flow stop plate, solidifies at room temperature and is higher than room temperature. A sealing plate formed of a sealing material having a property of melting at a temperature and having an insertion hole that allows insertion of the terminal fitting and the electric wire is attached, and the sealing plate is solidified after being melted. A waterproof connector characterized in that a sealing material is filled in a front side of a stopper plate. 3. A rear end portion of the connector housing,
The waterproof connector according to claim 2, further comprising a cover for preventing the seal plate from coming off. 4. A through hole for tightly penetrating the electric wire is provided in a receiving recess provided on a rear surface of a connector housing having a plurality of rows of cavities into which terminal fittings connected to terminals of the electric wire are inserted. A flow stopper plate made of an elastic material provided at each position corresponding to the above, and a sealing material having characteristics of being solidified at room temperature and capable of melting at a temperature higher than room temperature are formed as raw materials, and the terminal fitting and the electric wire are allowed to be inserted. After sequentially inserting the terminal fitting into the cavity through the through hole of the flow stop plate from the insertion hole of the seal plate, and then heating around the seal plate. A method for manufacturing a waterproof connector.