JP2001015204A - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize the influence of an adjacent electric wire inserting hole upon each electric wire inserting hole while the rubber plug adopted is of lump type. SOLUTION: A rubber plug 30 of lump type provided with electric wire inserting holes 31 in positions mating with respective cavities 11 is attached to the rear surface of a female housing 10 and pressed by a rubber plug holder 40 where an insert hole 41 for a femal side terminal metal piece 20 is opened. Circumferential grooves 60 are formed around each wire inserting hole 31 in the rear surface of the rubber plug 30, while a cylindrical wall 60 is provided upright around an insert hole 41 in the front surface of the rubber plug holder 40. The cylindrical wall 61 is fitted in the circumferential grooves 60, and such a condition is generated that the wire inserting holes 31 are isolated from deformation of interposing rubber material and separated from one another.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
What is described in -266941 is known. This is arranged on the rear surface of the connector housing in which a plurality of cavities are formed, a rubber stopper having a size enough to cover all the cavities and having a wire insertion hole provided at each position corresponding to each cavity, The structure is held down by a rubber stopper holder.The terminal fittings are passed through the rubber stopper and housed in the cavities while elastically expanding the wire insertion holes.After the terminal fittings pass, the inner surface of the wire insertion holes is placed on the outer periphery of the wires. The seal is taken by bringing it into close contact.

[0003]

This type of one-piece waterproof connector is particularly useful with a multi-pole connector, since a rubber plug is only required to be mounted once compared with an individual type waterproof connector. , And also had the following issues. That is, in the collective rubber stopper, since each electric wire insertion hole is formed continuously through the rubber material which is a material of the rubber stopper, for example, when inserting a terminal fitting and an electric wire into one electric wire insertion hole,
Depending on whether an electric wire has already passed through the adjacent electric wire insertion hole,
There is a problem that there is a difference in the easiness of expansion of the one electric wire insertion hole, and the terminal fitting and the insertion feeling of the electric wire vary.

[0004] Further, in the state where the terminal fitting is completely accommodated in the cavity, that is, in a state where the wires are inserted through the respective wire insertion holes, a tensile force acts on one of the wires in a direction intersecting the axis thereof. In such a case, there is a possibility that the adjacent electric wire insertion hole is stretched by being pulled through the rubber material between the electric wire insertion holes, thereby impairing the sealing property. The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above-described circumstances, and its purpose is to form an all-in-one type rubber plug, but each wire insertion hole formed therein has an influence from an adjacent wire insertion hole side. It's about minimizing what you get.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As means for achieving the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is provided on a rear surface of a connector housing provided with a plurality of cavities for accommodating terminal fittings fixed to terminals of electric wires. A rubber plug having a size capable of covering all the cavities, and having a wire insertion hole capable of closely adhering to the outer periphery of the wire at a position corresponding to the cavity, is disposed on a rear surface of the rubber plug. In the waterproof connector having the rubber plug holder attached thereto, a surface of the rubber plug holder or the connector housing facing the rubber plug is formed in a groove formed in a portion between the electric wire insertion holes in the rubber plug. Is characterized in that a partition wall which bulges into each of the electric wire insertion holes and which separates the electric wire insertion holes is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the rubber stopper holder is provided with an insertion opening for the terminal fitting at a position corresponding to an electric wire insertion hole of the rubber stopper.
A cylindrical wall protrudes around each of the insertion ports on a surface of the rubber plug holder facing the rubber plug, and the cylindrical wall protrudes around each wire insertion hole of the rubber plug. It is characterized in that possible circumferential grooves are formed.

[0007]

<Effects and Effects of the Invention><Invention of claim 1> Although the respective electric wire insertion holes of the rubber stopper are continuous through the rubber material, which is a raw material, the respective electric wire insertion holes are formed in grooves formed between the electric wire insertion holes. When the partition wall protrudes, the electric wire insertion holes are cut off from deformation of the rubber material therebetween and are individually partitioned. Therefore, when a terminal fitting and an electric wire are inserted into one electric wire insertion hole, the degree of the ease of expansion of the one electric wire insertion hole is almost the same regardless of whether the electric wire is already passed through the adjacent electric wire insertion hole. It is kept constant, that is, the feeling when inserting the terminal fitting and the electric wire into each electric wire insertion hole can be made constant. Also, even after a wire is inserted through each wire insertion hole, even if a tensile force is applied to one of the wires in a direction crossing the axis thereof, the adjacent wire insertion hole is pulled through the rubber material therebetween. Is prevented from spreading
Sealing property can be ensured.

<Invention of Claim 2> When the rubber plug holder is attached to the rear surface of the rubber plug, the cylindrical wall on the holder side protrudes into a circumferential groove around each wire insertion hole, and each wire insertion hole is individually formed. It can be in a state of being partitioned.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
7 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a waterproof joint connector is illustrated, and as shown in FIG. 1, a female connector housing 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as “female housing”) and a plurality of female terminal fittings 2 are generally used.
A plurality of female terminal fittings 20 are short-circuited by a bus bar 52 in a predetermined short-circuit pattern, and are formed by a rubber stopper 30; A seal is to be removed.

The female housing 10 is formed of a synthetic resin material in a flat block shape, and has a plurality of cavities 11 penetrating in the front-rear direction and formed in upper and lower stages in the interior. As shown in FIG. 2, two holding protrusions 12 projecting rearward from both left and right ends are formed on the rear end surface of the female housing 10.

The female terminal fitting 20 is formed by pressing a conductive metal plate. As shown in FIG. 5, a box-shaped connecting portion 21 having an elastic contact piece 22 on the front end side is provided. The barrel 23 on the rear end side is caulked and the electric wire 2 is formed.
5 is crimped. This female terminal fitting 20
As will be described later in detail, the rubber stopper holder 40 and the rubber stopper 3
0, is inserted into the corresponding cavity 11 from the rear, is locked by a lance 15 provided in the cavity 11, and is housed in a locked state (see FIG. 7).

A rubber stopper 30 is provided on the rear surface of the female housing 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the rubber stopper 30 is of a collective type, and as shown in FIG. 3, is formed in a horizontally long oval and thick plate shape so as to abut on the entire rear surface of the female housing 10. In the rubber plug 30, a plurality of electric wire insertion holes 31 are formed at positions corresponding to the cavities 11, and the inner periphery thereof is elastically adhered to the outer periphery of the electric wire 25 as shown in FIG. Possible three-way lip 32 shown
Are formed. The rubber stopper 30 is formed with a fitting hole 33 for tightly penetrating the holding projection 12 of the female housing 10, and can be elastically adhered to the inner periphery of the cap 55 on the outer periphery. The three illustrated lips 34 are formed.

A rubber plug holder 40 is further provided on the rear surface of the rubber plug 30. The rubber plug holder 40 is formed of a synthetic resin material and has a horizontally-long oblong shape slightly smaller than the rubber plug 30. It is formed in a thick plate shape. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of female terminal fittings 2 are provided in the rubber stopper holder 40.
The 0 insertion port 41 is formed in a penetrating manner at a position corresponding to the cavity 11 and the electric wire insertion hole 31 described above. The rubber plug holder 40 is formed with a retaining hole (not shown) at each of both ends in the length direction for fitting and locking the tip of the holding projection 12 of the female housing 10 described above.

The bus bar body 50 is formed by integrating a holder 51 made of synthetic resin and a bus bar 52 made of conductive metal by insert molding. The holding body 51 includes upper and lower cylindrical portions 53, and the bus bar body 50 includes the upper and lower cylindrical portions 5.
At 3, the upper and lower cavities 11 of the female housing 10 are individually fitted so as to cover the 11 rows of rows, and can be held at a temporary locking position and a full locking position deeper than the temporary locking position. When the bus bar body 50 is at the temporary locking position,
The bus bar 52 disposed in the cylindrical portion 53 is
The bus bar 52 and the female terminal fittings 20 can be connected to each other when they are retracted so as not to be in contact with the female terminal fittings 20 inserted in the connector 1 and move to the final locking position.

The cap 55 is formed of a synthetic resin material in the shape of a bottomed cylinder having an oblong front surface and has a female housing 10 to which the rubber plug 30 and the rubber plug holder 40 are assembled, and a bus bar body fitted to the female housing 10. 50 so as to cover it. At the opening edge of the cap 55, a lock hole 56 is formed to be engaged with the lock projection 46 of the rubber plug holder 40, and the outer peripheral surface of the rubber plug 30 is formed on the inner peripheral surface in a region near the opening edge. The side lip 34 can be elastically contacted.

The rear surface of the rubber plug 30, that is, the surface facing the rubber plug holder 40 has a predetermined width around each wire insertion hole 31, as shown in FIGS. A circumferential groove 60 is formed. The depth of the circumferential groove 60 is less than half the thickness of the rubber stopper 30. On the other hand, on the front surface of the rubber plug holder 40, that is, on the surface facing the rubber plug 30, at a position around each insertion opening 41, a cylindrical wall 61 that can be tightly fitted into the circumferential groove 60 of the rubber plug 30. Is protruding.

This embodiment has the above-described structure,
Subsequently, the operation will be described. When assembling, from the state of FIG.
The rubber stopper 30 is temporarily assembled by inserting the holding projection 12 through the fitting hole 33. Subsequently, a rubber stopper holder 40 is applied to the rear surface of the rubber stopper 30 while fitting the retaining hole into the retaining projection 12, and when properly applied, the tip of the retaining projection 12 is locked in the retaining hole. As shown in FIG.
Is permanently attached to the female housing 10,
The rubber stopper 30 is held in a state of being sandwiched between the female housing 10 and the rubber stopper holder 40.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, each cylindrical wall 61 projecting from the front surface of the rubber plug holder 40 is
0 is tightly fitted into a corresponding circumferential groove 60 formed on the rear surface. On the other hand, on the front side of the female housing 10, a bus bar body 50 is assembled at a temporary locking position (not shown in FIG. 6).

In this state, when the female terminal fitting 20 fixed to the end of the electric wire 25 is inserted into the insertion opening 41 of the rubber plug holder 40 as shown by the arrow in FIG. Subsequently, while passing through the wire insertion hole 31 while elastically expanding the wire insertion hole 31, the wire insertion hole 31 enters the cavity 11, and when the wire insertion hole 31 is inserted to a proper position, as shown in FIG. Further, the lip 32 on the inner periphery of the electric wire insertion hole 31 is restored and deformed, and comes into close contact with the outer periphery of the electric wire 25.
A female terminal fitting 20 is provided in each cavity 11 as described above.
Is accommodated.

Here, if the cylindrical wall 61 does not protrude around the electric wire insertion hole 31 but has a structure in which each electric wire insertion hole 31 is continuous only through the rubber material, the female side When the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 31, as shown in FIG.
Is not inserted, the electric wire insertion hole 3 into which the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted so as to crush the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31.
1 is easy to spread, and conversely, if the electric wire 25 is already inserted into the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31, the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31
The deformation of the rubber material between the female terminal fitting 20 and the female terminal fitting 20 is restricted.
The phenomenon that the inserted wire insertion hole 31 is difficult to expand is exhibited. That is, depending on whether the electric wire 25 has already been passed through the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31 or not, there is a difference in the spreadability of the electric wire insertion hole 31 and a difference in the insertion resistance of the female terminal fitting 20.

In this respect, in this embodiment, a cylindrical wall 61 is formed around the entrance side of each electric wire insertion hole 31 provided in the rubber stopper 30.
Is inserted, and at least at the entrance side of each electric wire insertion hole 31 is in a state of being cut off from deformation of the rubber material therebetween and partitioned. Therefore, when the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 31, regardless of whether the electric wire 25 is already passed through the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31,
1, the degree of ease of spreading is kept substantially constant, and the insertion resistance of the female terminal fitting 20 and the electric wire 25 is kept substantially constant.

When all the female terminal fittings 20 to be accommodated are inserted into the corresponding cavities 11, the bus bar body 50
Is pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the female terminal fitting 20 is connected to the corresponding bus bar 52 and short-circuited in a predetermined pattern. Finally, the cap 55 is assembled so as to cover the female housing 10 and the bus bar body 50.
In a state where the cap 55 is assembled, as shown in FIG. 7, water is prevented from entering into the cap 55 through a gap between the inner circumference of the cap 55 and the outer circumference of the rubber plug 30 by the lip 34 on the outer circumference of the rubber plug 30. . In addition, regarding the inundation from the rear surface of the rubber stopper 30, the lip 32 on the inner surface of the electric wire insertion hole 31 is used.
Is tightly attached to the outer periphery of the electric wire 25, and the fitting hole 33 is tightly attached to the outer periphery of the holding projection 12, thereby being prevented.

Here, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 7, a tensile force may be applied to one electric wire 25 in a direction intersecting the axis thereof. In this case, if the cylindrical wall 61 does not protrude around the electric wire insertion hole 31,
If the structure is continuous only through the rubber material, there is a possibility that the lower surface side of the wire insertion hole 31 thereabove may be stretched by being pulled through the rubber material therebetween.

In this respect, in this embodiment, since the cylindrical wall 61 is driven around each of the electric wire insertion holes 31 to partition each of the electric wire insertion holes 31 as described above, one electric wire 2
Even if a tensile force acts in a direction intersecting the axis with respect to 5, the adjacent wire insertion hole 31 is prevented from being stretched by being pulled through the rubber material therebetween.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
By inserting a cylindrical wall 61 protruding from the rubber plug holder 40 into a circumferential groove 60 formed around each electric wire insertion hole 31 of the rubber plug 30, the electric wire insertion hole 31 is closed. When the female terminal fitting 20 and the electric wire 25 are inserted into one electric wire insertion hole 31, the adjacent electric wire insertion hole 31 is cut off from the deformation of the rubber material.
Irrespective of whether the electric wire 25 is already passed through or not, the degree of easiness of expansion of one electric wire insertion hole 31 is kept substantially constant, that is, the female terminal fitting 2 is provided for each electric wire insertion hole 31.
The feeling when inserting the zero and the electric wire 25 can be made constant. Also, the electric wire 2 is inserted into each electric wire insertion hole 31.
Even after a wire 5 is inserted, even if a tensile force in a direction intersecting with the axis of the wire 25 acts on one of the wires 25, the adjacent wire insertion hole 31 is prevented from being stretched by being pulled through the rubber material therebetween. As a result, sealing performance can be ensured.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above with reference to 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) The partition wall is not limited to the cylindrical wall illustrated in the above-described embodiment, and may be a grid-like member protruding between the electric wire insertion holes. (2) The partition wall may protrude from the rear side of the female housing.

(3) The present invention is not limited to the joint connector exemplified in the above embodiment, but can be similarly applied to a type in which housings housing male and female terminal fittings are fitted to each other. (4) It is also possible to apply to the male waterproof connector.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of a female housing.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway rear view of a rubber stopper.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a shape of a rubber stopper and a rubber stopper holder on opposing surfaces.

FIG. 5 is an exploded cross-sectional view of an assembled portion of a rubber stopper and a rubber stopper holder.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before insertion of a female terminal fitting.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the connector is completely assembled.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Female housing (connector housing) 11 ... Cavity 20 ... Female terminal fitting (terminal fitting) 25 ... Electric wire 30 ... Rubber stopper 31 ... Electric wire insertion hole 40 ... Rubber stopper holder 41 ... Insertion opening 60 ... Circumferential groove (groove) 61 ... cylindrical wall (partition wall)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5E087 EE02 EE14 FF00 FF08 FF13 GG15 HH02 HH04 LL03 LL04 LL11 LL12 LL17 RR06 RR12 RR25

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector housing having a plurality of cavities for accommodating terminal fittings fixed to an end of an electric wire, the rear surface of the connector housing having a size enough to cover all cavities, and being provided at a position corresponding to the cavities. In a waterproof connector in which a rubber plug having an electric wire insertion hole which can be in close contact with the outer periphery of the electric wire is provided, and a rubber plug holder for holding is attached to a rear surface of the rubber plug, the rubber plug holder or the connector housing On the surface facing the rubber plug, there is provided a partition wall which protrudes into a groove formed in a portion of the rubber plug between the electric wire insertion holes and separates each of the electric wire insertion holes. Features a waterproof connector. 2. The rubber stopper holder is provided with an insertion opening for the terminal fitting at a position corresponding to an electric wire insertion hole of the rubber stopper. A cylindrical wall protrudes around the insertion port,
2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein a circumferential groove into which the cylindrical wall can protrude is formed around each wire insertion hole of the rubber plug.