JP2000299156A - Joint connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the structure of a parts feeder supplying parts to an automatic machine. SOLUTION: A seal holder 40 is formed in an asymmetric shape with respect to the parallel direction of a terminal fitting inserted into a cavity. A sealing member and a housing have symmetric shapes with respect to the inserting direction of the terminal fitting. Since the sealing holder 40 is asymmetric, the direction of the seal holder 40, that is, the address of a terminal insertion hole 41 can be recognized correctly. Thereby, the terminal is inserted correctly in a prescribed cavity, in addition to that, short-circuited in a proper pattern. As the sealing member and the housing can be formed in symmetric shapes without directionality, the structure of a part feeder for feeding these members to an automatic machine can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joint connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has devised the following waterproof type joint connector. As shown in FIG. 15, a housing 100 in which a plurality of cavities 101 are formed in parallel, a seal member 102 in which a seal hole (not shown) corresponding to each cavity 101 is formed,
Each of the seal holes and a seal holder 103 having a corresponding terminal insertion hole (not shown) are sequentially superimposed and assembled in order, and a terminal fitting (not shown) is inserted from behind (upper right of FIG. 15). At the same time, the busbar body 104 is assembled from the front of the housing 100, and finally, the housing 100
Is a structure in which a cap 105 is assembled so as to cover

A terminal fitting is housed in a cavity through a terminal insertion hole and a seal hole.
A connection piece 104B connected in a predetermined short-circuit pattern to a bottomed cylindrical resin member 104A is held. When each connection piece 104B is connected to a terminal metal fitting in the cavity 101, the terminal metal fitting has a predetermined pattern. Is short-circuited.
Further, in the seal member 102, the penetration portion of the electric wire (not shown) connected to the terminal fitting is elastically adhered to prevent water from entering the cavity 101, and
The inner periphery of the cap 105 is tightly sealed to the outer periphery of the seal member 102 to prevent water from entering the cap 105.

[0004]

At the time of assembling the joint connector, the operation of assembling the housing 100, the seal member 102, and the seal holder 103 is performed by an automatic machine, and thereafter, the insertion of the terminal fittings and the bus bar body 104 and The assembly of the cap 105 is performed manually. When inserting the terminal fitting into the predetermined cavity 101, it is necessary for an operator to be able to identify the vertical direction of the housing 100 in order to correctly insert the predetermined terminal fitting into the predetermined cavity 101. Therefore, the cross-sectional shape of the housing 100, the seal member 102, and the seal holder 103 (the shape viewed from the insertion direction of the terminal fitting) is trapezoidal, that is, a shape having a direction in the up-down direction.

[0005] However, since these directional parts are assembled by an automatic machine, a parts feeder for supplying these parts to the automatic machine needs to identify the direction of the parts and to provide a predetermined direction. There is a problem that a mechanism for correcting the orientation is required, and the structure of the parts feeder is complicated.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a housing having a plurality of cavities formed in parallel, a seal member, and a seal holder are assembled in a front-to-back order, and a terminal fitting is formed of the seal. By being inserted from the terminal insertion hole of the holder and penetrating the seal member, the seal member is housed in the cavity, water from the insertion path of the terminal fitting is prevented at the penetrating portion of the seal member, and the terminal is attached to the housing from the front. A plurality of the terminal fittings are short-circuited in a predetermined pattern by the bus bar, and a bottomed cylindrical cap is attached so as to be in close contact with the outer periphery of the seal member while covering the housing from the front, so that the outer periphery of the seal member is A joint connector in which water is prevented, wherein the seal holder includes the terminal metal inserted into the cavity. It has a configuration which is asymmetrical shape with respect to at least one of the lines of the orthogonal direction line for parallel direction parallel direction line and the terminal fitting.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, both the housing and the seal member have a point-symmetrical shape with respect to an insertion direction line of the terminal fitting. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the seal holder has an asymmetric shape by forming partial unevenness on an outer periphery thereof.

[0008]

[Operation and effect of the invention] [Invention of claim 1] Since the seal holder has an asymmetric shape, the direction of the seal holder,
That is, the address of the terminal insertion hole can be correctly recognized.
As a result, the terminal fitting can be correctly inserted into the predetermined cavity, and the terminal fitting can be short-circuited in a correct pattern. Since the seal member and the housing can have symmetrical shapes with no directivity, the structure of the parts feeder for supplying these parts to the automatic machine can be simplified.

[0010] Since both the seal member and the housing have a point-symmetrical shape with no directivity, the structure of the parts feeder is simplified as compared with the case where one has a shape having directivity. Can be [Invention of Claim 3] The direction of the seal holder can be easily and reliably recognized by visually recognizing the irregularities on the outer periphery of the seal holder.

[0010]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The joint connector of the present embodiment includes a housing 1
0, a plurality of terminal fittings 20, a seal member 30, a seal holder 40, two bus bar bodies 50, and a cap 60. The plurality of terminal fittings 20 are short-circuited by a plurality of bus bars 55 in a predetermined short circuit pattern.

<Housing 10> The housing 10 is made of a synthetic resin material. In the housing 10, a plurality of cavities 11 penetrating in the front-rear direction are divided into upper and lower tiers, and are arranged at a constant pitch in a horizontal row for each tier. It is formed. A substantially first half region of the upper cavity 11 and a substantially first half region of the lower cavity 11 are respectively connected to the housing 10.
Each of the open portions is formed with a lance 12 projecting forward in a cantilever manner.
The upper row of cavities 11 and the lower row of cavities 11
Between the rows, there is formed a horizontally elongated slit-shaped recess 13 for inserting the peripheral wall of the bus bar body 50. still,
The upper surface wall and the lower surface wall of the concave portion 13 are partially notched so as to communicate with the upper cavity 11 and the lower cavity 11, respectively.

The housing 10 has two holding projections 14 projecting rearward from both left and right ends on a rear end surface thereof.
And two deformation restricting projections 15 projecting rearward from a position between the two holding projections 14 in parallel with the holding projections 14. The first half of the holding projection 14 (the housing 10
Is formed as a base 14A having a circular cross section, and the rear half is formed as a non-circular locking piece 14B which is thinner than the base 14A. The locking piece 14B is locked to the seal holder 40. To restrict the detachment of the seal holder 40 to the rear. The deformation restricting protrusion 15 is tightly penetrated through the fitting hole 33 of the seal member 30, and thereby the housing 1
0 and seal member 30 interposed between seal holder 40
Regulates vertical deformation of

The housing 10 has a cavity 11
Are symmetrical with respect to the insertion direction line of the terminal fitting 20 with respect to. That is, the shape is vertically symmetrical (symmetrical with respect to the parallel direction line of the terminal fittings 20 inserted into the cavity 11) and symmetrical (symmetrical with respect to the direction orthogonal to the parallel direction of the terminal fittings 20). <Terminal metal fitting 20> The terminal metal fitting 20 is formed by bending a metal plate material punched into a predetermined shape, and a substantially front half portion is a square tube-shaped fitting portion 21 opened in both front and rear directions, and a substantially rear half portion. Is the wire connection portion 22 to which the wire 25 is crimped
It has been. The bus bar body 50 is provided inside the fitting portion 21.
An elastic contact piece 23 for elastic contact with the connection piece 57 is formed, and a locking hole 24 for locking with the lance 12 of the housing 10 is formed in the peripheral wall plate of the fitting portion 21. The terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 11 of the housing 10 in which the seal member 30 and the seal holder 40 are assembled so as to penetrate the seal holder 40 and the seal member 30 from behind. Immediately before the terminal fitting 20 reaches the regular insertion position, the lance 12 interferes with the outer peripheral surface of the fitting portion 21 so that the lance 12 is elastically bent so as to protrude outside the housing 10, and the terminal fitting 20 reaches the regular insertion position. And the lance 12 is elastically restored and locked in the locking hole 24,
As a result, the terminal fitting 20 is stopped. When the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the housing 10, the insertion posture with respect to the upper cavity 11 and the insertion posture with respect to the lower cavity 11 are vertically symmetric.

<Seal Member 30> The seal member 30 is made of rubber and has an oval thick plate shape.
Is assembled so as to be sandwiched between the rear end face of the seal holder 40 and the front end face of the seal holder 40. The seal member 30 is formed with a plurality of seal holes 31 opened on both front and rear surfaces thereof so as to be aligned with each cavity 11 of the housing 10. The seal hole 31 has a circular shape, and three lip portions 31A having an angled cross section are formed in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface. The inner diameter of the lip portion 31A is set smaller than the outer diameter of the electric wire 25. I have. The electric wire 25 penetrates through the seal hole 31, and the lip portion 31 </ b> A elastically adheres to the outer periphery of the electric wire 25, thereby sealing between the electric wire 25 and the seal hole 31. Further, fitting holes 32 and 33 for penetrating the holding protrusion 14 and the deformation restricting protrusion 15 of the housing 10 are formed in the seal member 30 so as to penetrate forward and backward. Since the inner diameters of the fitting holes 32, 33 are set slightly smaller than the outer diameters of the projections 14, 15, the fitting holes 3
The space between the projections 2 and 33 and the projections 14 and 15 is sealed. On the outer periphery of the seal member 30, three lip portions 34 having a substantially semicircular cross section are formed in the circumferential direction. The lip portion 34 elastically contacts the inner periphery of the cap 60 to seal between the outer periphery of the seal member 30 and the inner periphery of the cap 60.

The sealing member 30 is provided on the housing 10.
Similarly, the shape is point-symmetric with respect to the insertion direction line of the terminal fitting 20 with respect to the cavity 11. That is, it is vertically symmetrical (symmetrical with respect to the parallel direction line of the terminal fittings 20 inserted into the cavity 11) and symmetrical (laterally).
Are symmetrical with respect to a line orthogonal to the parallel direction of. <Seal Holder 40> The seal holder 40 is made of a synthetic resin material, and has a generally oval thick plate shape like the seal member 30. The lip portion 34 on the outer periphery of the seal member 30 has a size slightly larger than the outer periphery of the seal holder 40. A plurality of terminal insertion holes 41 penetrating between the front and rear end surfaces of the seal holder 40 are provided in each cavity 1.
1 and the seal hole 31.
The terminal fitting 20 is inserted from the terminal insertion hole 41 and housed in the cavity 11. Also, the seal holder 40
Is formed with a retaining hole 42 that is aligned with the retaining projection 14 of the housing 10, and the retaining piece 14B of the retaining projection 14 is retained by a stepped receiving portion 42A formed on the inner wall of the retaining hole 42. Thus, the seal holder 40 is
Departure from is regulated. A circular regulating hole 43 is formed at a position where the deformation regulating protrusion 15 of the housing 10 is aligned, and the tip of the deformation regulating protrusion 15 is fitted into the regulating hole 43 to reinforce the deformation regulating protrusion 15. .

On the outer periphery of the seal holder 40, a total of four lock projections 44 are formed at both ends of the upper and lower flat surfaces. The lock projection 44 regulates the cap 60 from being detached from the housing 10, the seal member 30 and the seal holder 40 by engaging with the cap 60. Further, a pair of left and right symmetrical index protrusions 45 are formed in the arc-shaped regions at the left and right ends on the outer periphery of the seal holder 40 so as to be deviated upward from the center height. The index protrusion 45 serves as a guide for determining the vertical direction of the housing 10 when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted.

Although the seal holder 40 is bilaterally symmetric (symmetrical with respect to a line perpendicular to the parallel direction of the terminal fittings 20 into which the cavities 11 are inserted) due to the presence of the index protrusions 45, it is vertically asymmetric (inserted into the cavities 11). (Asymmetrical with respect to the parallel direction line of the terminal fittings 20). <Busbar Body 50> The busbar body 50 is made of a synthetic resin holder 51 and a metal busbar 55 by insert molding.
Are integrated. The holding body 51 includes a horizontally long plate-shaped holding portion 52 and a flat cylindrical portion 53 projecting rearward (in a direction toward the housing 10) from the plate-shaped holding portion 52. The bus bar 55 is formed by projecting a plurality of connecting pieces 57 in a cantilever form in parallel from the side edge of a band-shaped carrier 56 so that the carrier 56 is along the plate-shaped holding portion 52 and the connecting piece 57 is placed in the cylindrical portion 53. Is held in a state of facing. A punching hole 54 is opened in the plate-shaped holding portion 52 at a position corresponding to the gap between the adjacent connection pieces 57 in the carrier 56. In the manufacturing process of the bus bar body 50, each punching hole in the carrier 56 is formed after insert molding. By punching a portion facing 54 with a punch and a die in accordance with a predetermined short circuit pattern, the carrier is divided (not shown), and is thus divided into a plurality of bus bars 55. One bus bar 55 has at least three connection pieces 57, and the terminal pieces 20 are connected to each connection piece, so that a plurality of terminal pieces 2 are provided.
0 is short-circuited for each bus bar 55.

The bus bar body 50 is assembled so that the upper row of cavities 11 and the lower row of cavities 11 are individually covered with the cylindrical portion 53 from the front with respect to the housing 10. Connected to fitting 20. The bus bar body 50 can identify the short-circuit pattern by changing the color of the holding body 51,
The shape of the holding body 51 is vertically asymmetric. Therefore, by confirming the color and the direction, the predetermined bus bar body 50 can be assembled to the housing 10 in the correct direction, and the terminal fittings 20 can be short-circuited in the correct short-circuit pattern.

A guide groove 58 in the front-rear direction is formed on both left and right ends of the cylindrical portion 53, and one locking protrusion 17, 18 corresponding to the guide groove 58 is formed in the housing 10.
Are formed. Since the rear end of the cylindrical portion 53 and the rear end edge of the guide groove 58 are locked so as to be sandwiched between the locking projections 17 and 18, the bus bar body 50 is held at the temporary locking position. In this case, the connection piece 57 is retracted to a position where it does not come into contact with the terminal fitting 20, thereby avoiding generation of a fitting resistance when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted. Further, the front and rear ends of the guide groove 58 are engaged with the engagement projections 17 and 18 so as to be sandwiched from the outside, so that the bus bar body 50 is held at a regular assembly position.

<Cap 60> The cap 60 is made of a synthetic resin material and has a bottomed cylindrical shape having an oblong shape in a front view. A lock projection 44 of the seal holder 40 is provided on an opening edge of the cap 60.
Is formed, and the cap 60 is locked in the assembled state by the engagement of the lock projection 44 and the lock hole 61. Further, a relief portion 62 bulging to the outer peripheral side for avoiding interference with the index projection is formed at the opening edge of the cap 60. Such a cap 60
The area near the opening edge of the inner peripheral surface of the
The outer peripheral lip portion 34 is a sealing surface 63 to be elastically contacted.

<Assembly of Each Part> The assembling procedure of each part described above is as follows. First, the seal member 30 is temporarily assembled to the housing 10 so that the fitting holes 32 and 33 are fitted to the holding projections 14 and the deformation restricting projections 15, and the seal member 30 is sandwiched between the housing 10. At the same time, the seal holder 40 is assembled such that the locking piece 14B of the holding projection 14 is engaged with the retaining hole 42 and the tip of the deformation regulating projection 15 is fitted into the regulating hole 43. on the other hand,
In front of the housing 10, the bus bar body 50 is assembled at a temporary locking position. Next, the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the terminal insertion hole 41 and inserted into the cavity 11 while penetrating the seal hole 31. Thereafter, when the bus bar body 50 is pushed from the temporary locking position to the regular assembling position, the terminal fitting 2
0 is short-circuited in a predetermined pattern. In addition, the bus bar body 50
When the terminal fitting 20 is half-inserted, the lance 12 protrudes outward, so that the pushing of the bus bar body 50 is restricted, so that the half-insertion of the terminal fitting 20 can be detected. After assembling the bus bar body 50, finally, the cap 60 is assembled so as to cover the housing 10 and the bus bar body 50. In a state where the cap 60 is assembled, the intrusion of water into the cap 60 from the gap between the inner periphery of the cap 60 and the outer periphery of the seal member 30 is prevented by the lip portion 34 on the outer periphery of the seal member 30. In addition, with regard to water from the outer surface of the seal member 30, the lip portion 31A of the seal hole 31 is in close contact with the outer periphery of the electric wire 25, and the inner periphery of the fitting holes 32 and 33 is formed by the holding projection 14 and the deformation regulating projection 15. It is prevented by closely adhering to the outer periphery.

<Operation and Effect of this Embodiment> Since the seal holder 40 is formed in an asymmetric shape, the operator can correctly recognize the direction of the seal holder 40, that is, the address of the terminal insertion hole 41. Thereby, the terminal fitting 20 can be correctly inserted into the predetermined cavity 11, and
Consequently, the terminal fitting 20 can be short-circuited in a correct pattern. Since the seal member 30 and the housing 10 have a point-symmetric shape with no directionality, when the housing 10, the seal member 30, and the seal holder 40 are assembled by an automatic machine, these parts are automatically As for the parts feeder for supplying the parts, a mechanism for identifying the directions of these parts and correcting the parts to a predetermined direction becomes unnecessary, and the structure of the parts feeder can be simplified.

As a means for identifying the direction of the seal holder 40, the outer shape of the seal holder 40 is made a simple ellipse as a whole, and a convex index projection 45 is formed only on a part of the outer circumference. Since it is formed, the direction of the seal holder 40 can be easily and reliably recognized by the presence of the index projection 45. [Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the seal holder has an asymmetrical shape only with respect to the parallel direction of the terminal fittings, that is, a vertically asymmetrical shape. However, according to the present invention, the seal holder has a shape which is perpendicular to the parallel direction of the terminal fittings. Only the shape may be asymmetric (laterally asymmetric), and the shape may be asymmetric with respect to both the parallel direction line and the orthogonal line to the parallel direction. (2) In the above embodiment, both the seal member and the housing are point-symmetrical with respect to the line of the terminal fitting insertion direction. However, according to the present invention, only one of the seal member and the housing is point-symmetrical. One part may have an asymmetric shape (directional shape).

(3) In the above embodiment, the terminal fittings are vertically
Although the case where the stages are divided and arranged in parallel has been described, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the number of the terminal fittings is one or three or more. (4) In the above-described embodiment, a protrusion (index protrusion) is formed on the outer periphery of the seal holder as a means for forming the seal holder into an asymmetric shape. However, according to the present invention, a concave portion is formed on the outer periphery of the seal holder. This allows the seal holder to have an asymmetric shape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a seal member and a seal holder are assembled to a housing in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a bus bar body.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cap.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an assembled state.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state where a seal member and a seal holder are assembled to a housing.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view of a housing.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the seal member.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the seal holder.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway plan view of the bus bar body.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway plan view of a cap.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of an assembled state.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a state where a seal member and a seal holder are assembled to a housing.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a bus bar body.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a cap.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing 11 ... Cavity 30 ... Seal member 40 ... Seal holder 41 ... Terminal insertion hole 45 ... Index protrusion (means to make a seal holder an asymmetric shape) 55 ... Bus bar

Continuation of the front page F term (reference) 5E063 HA04 HB16 XA05 XA08 5E087 EE02 EE14 FF02 FF06 FF13 GG14 HH01 LL03 LL04 LL13 MM05 RR26 RR36 RR47

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing in which a plurality of cavities are formed in parallel, a seal member, and a seal holder are assembled in a back-and-forth order, and a terminal fitting is inserted from a terminal insertion hole of the seal holder to form the seal. By penetrating the member, the terminal fitting is accommodated in the cavity, water from the insertion path of the terminal fitting is prevented at the penetrating portion of the seal member, and the plurality of terminal fittings are fixed to a predetermined portion by a bus bar attached to the housing from the front. It is a joint connector that is short-circuited in a pattern and is prevented from being flooded from the outer periphery of the seal member by assembling a bottomed cylindrical cap so as to be in close contact with the outer periphery of the seal member while covering the housing from the front, The seal holder is arranged in parallel with the parallel direction line of the terminal fitting inserted into the cavity and the terminal fitting. Joint connector, characterized in that it is asymmetrical shape with respect to at least one of the lines of the orthogonal direction line with respect to the direction. 2. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein both the housing and the sealing member have a point-symmetric shape with respect to an insertion direction line of the terminal fitting. 3. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the seal holder has an asymmetric shape by forming partial irregularities on an outer periphery thereof.