JP2002134218A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To aim at improving seal characteristics by an inexpensive constitution. SOLUTION: In a connector 10 having an abutting seal structure, and at a position corresponding to a male terminal 3 of a sealing member 13 which consists of a soft elastic body of a nearly flat faced state in order to perform a sealing by means of abutting on the both parts in joining the connector and which is installed between a fitting concave part 12a of the second connector 2 and a fitting convex part 11a of the first connector 1, this is made to have a constitution that a through hole 13a having a smaller cross-sectional area than that of this male terminal 3 is installed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a connector having a butting seal structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A waterproof type connector usually has a hermetically sealed structure in which a sealing portion at the time of fitting or fitting of an electric wire is provided by a rubber stopper or an O-ring. For this reason, when a temperature difference occurs inside and outside the connector, a pressure difference occurs inside and outside the connector due to expansion and contraction of the volume of air, so that a phenomenon has occurred in which water enters the connector through the electric wire. Moreover,
Since the connector has a sealed structure, water that has once entered the connector is unlikely to escape outside.

As a result, in the O-ring type waterproof connector, the space (cavity) of each electrode communicates with the minute space of the connector joint. Insulation cannot be maintained, and short-circuits, leaks, and the like occur between the electrodes.

Therefore, as a countermeasure, a soft elastic sheet is provided on the connector joint surface so that the space of each electrode in the minute space of the connector joint is not communicated, and this is used as an abutting surface to abut at the time of connector joining. It has been proposed to achieve a seal between electrodes by adopting a configuration in which a surface seal is performed. As a material of the soft elastic sheet,
For example, silicone gel (gel) or low-hardness silicone rubber can be used.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a conventional connector. FIG. 3A shows a state before the connector is joined.
(B) is a figure which shows the state which connected the connector.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a conventional connector 100 includes a first connector 101 having a housing 11 having a fitting projection 11a and a fitting recess 92a fitted to the fitting projection 11a. And a second connector 102 having a housing 92 having the same. A space (cavity) 11 e for housing the female terminal 4 is provided in the housing 11. And the female terminal 4 is locked to the housing 11.

A female terminal 4 is provided on the end face S1 of the housing 11.
An insertion port 11d for inserting the male terminal 3 which is a mating member is opened, and a lock claw 11c for locking the housing 92 is provided on one side surface. The male terminal 3 is fixed to the hole 92b in the housing 92 so as to penetrate the bottom surface of the fitting concave portion 92a.
A lock hole 92c which is a counterpart of the lock claw 11c for locking the lock 1 is provided.

A seal member 93 made of a substantially planar soft elastic body for sealing the bottom surface S2 of the fitting concave portion 92a of the second connector 102 by abutting the opposed end surface S1 of the first connector 101 at the time of connector connection. Can be mounted so that the male terminal 3 penetrates.

When the first connector 101 and the second connector 102 are connected to each other, as shown in FIG.
1 is pressed against the surface S3 of the seal member 93 to seal the surface, and the housing 11 and the housing 92 are sealed.
Is locked by the engagement between the lock claw 11c and the lock hole 92c.

In general, in such a face seal using the abutting surface, the force required for sealing is the product of the seal area and the force per unit area. Since it is necessary to strongly connect the connector, a lock mechanism using the housing as described above is provided.

In the surface seal at the abutting surface, the sealing member 93 is pressed and compressed by the opposing surfaces when the connector is connected. In order to reduce the compressive force, the seal made of the soft elastic body as described above is used. A member 93 is used. Further, since the sealing member 93 is expensive if a molded product is used, it is generally manufactured by punching a sheet material with a mold.

[0012]

However, the sealing member 9 is not required.
3, the end surface S4 of the sealing member 93 has an inverted round shape as shown in FIG. 3A, and the frictional resistance between the fitting member 92a and the wall surface S5 increases during assembly. Therefore, the seal member 93 may be inserted into the male terminal 3 while being inclined. For this reason, when the connectors are coupled and locked, the connectors are in a diagonally inclined coupling state, and the sealing surface cannot be pressed with a uniform force, resulting in a bias, which may result in incomplete sealing.

An object of the present invention is to solve such problems of the prior art, and to provide a connector which is inexpensive and can improve sealing characteristics.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A first connector including a housing having a fitting protrusion,
A second connector provided with a housing having a fitting concave portion fitted to the fitting convex portion, wherein the connector has a plurality of electrode terminals male and female, wherein the second connector has a fitting concave portion and the first connector has a fitting concave portion. The sealing member, which is interposed between the fitting protrusions and is made of a substantially planar soft elastic body for sealing by abutting against both parts at the time of connector connection, at a position corresponding to the electrode terminal, A through hole smaller than the cross-sectional area of the male terminal constituting the electrode terminal is provided.

According to the above configuration, a substantially flat surface is interposed between the fitting concave portion of the second connector and the fitting convex portion of the first connector, and is used for sealing by abutting against both portions when the connector is connected. Since a through-hole smaller than the cross-sectional area of the male terminal constituting the electrode terminal is provided at a position corresponding to the above-mentioned electrode terminal of the sealing member made of a soft elastic body in the shape of Furthermore, since the male terminal guided to the through hole is inserted by tearing the seal member, the seal member is not inclined and inserted into the male terminal. For this reason, in the connector coupling state, the sealing surface is pressed with a uniform force, and the sealing performance is ensured.

When air is sealed in the space defined by the fitting recess of the housing of the second connector and the seal member at the time of the above-described connector connection, a displacement of the mounting position of the seal member due to the sealed air. May occur and the sealing property may be impaired. Therefore, if the air hole communicating with the bottom surface of the fitting recess is provided in the housing of the second connector as in the second aspect of the invention, the air in the space escapes to the outside, so that the sealing member is made of sealed air. The mounting position does not shift.

The soft elastic material is preferably made of a silicone rubber or silicone gel having a hardness of less than 30 in JIS-A hardness according to JIS K6031 spring hardness Hs. Is preferred.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views showing a configuration example of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A shows a state before the connector is connected, and FIG. FIG. Elements common to the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the connector 10 includes a first connector 1 having a housing 11 having a fitting projection 11a and a fitting recess 12a fitted to the fitting projection 11a. And a second connector 2 having a housing 12 having the same.

A space (cavity) 11e for housing the female terminal 4 is provided in the housing 11, and a cable 5 having the female terminal 4 crimped therein is inserted into the cavity 11e.
The insertion port 11f is sealed with a packing 6 covering the outer skin of the cable 5, and the female terminal 4 is locked to the housing 11. An insertion hole 11d for inserting the male terminal 3 which is a counterpart of the female terminal 4 is provided in the end surface S1 of the housing 11.
And a locking claw 11c for locking the housing 12 is provided on one side surface.

The male terminal 3 is fixed to the hole 12b of the housing 12 so as to penetrate the bottom of the fitting recess 12a. One side of the male terminal 3 is opposed to a lock claw 11c for locking the housing 11. A lock hole 12c is provided.

The housing 12 of the second connector 2 has an air hole 12d which communicates with the bottom surface S2 of the fitting recess 12a from outside.
Are provided, and the bottom surface S2 of the fitting recess 12a is provided.
Can be mounted so that the male terminal 3 penetrates a substantially planar soft elastic member 13 for sealing by abutting the opposed end surface S1 of the first connector 1 at the time of connector connection. .

Here, the present inventors conducted the following test on the seal member 13. In this test, the sealing member 13 was formed by stamping a sheet material with a mold. The sheet materials used are as shown in Table 1 below.

[0025]

[Table 1]

As a result of comparing the displacement, the reaction force, and the initial sealing property of the seal member 13 under predetermined measurement conditions,
JIS based on JIS K 6031 spring hardness Hs
30 or less in SA hardness (1 in so-called Asker C2 hardness)
With silicone rubbers A to E having a low hardness of about 0 to 65), performances equal to or higher than those of silicone gels 1 to 3 were obtained. The mark "x" indicates that the sealing property is poor). In addition, as a result of a 120 ° C. standing test, it was found that the low-hardness silicone rubber had a smaller decrease in sealability than the silicone gel.

As a result, it was found that low hardness silicone rubber having a JIS-A hardness of less than 30 is suitable as the material of the sealing member 13 together with the silicone gel, and a composite thereof is also suitable.

The housing 12 of the sealing member 13
At a position corresponding to the male terminal 3 that penetrates through, a through hole 13a smaller than the cross-sectional area of the male terminal 3 is provided.

FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c) are explanatory views showing the appearance when the male terminal is inserted into the sealing member. First, FIG.
In (a), the sealing member 13 is provided on the bottom surface S of the fitting recess 12a.
The male terminal 3 protruding from the second terminal 2 is disposed to face the male terminal 3. The seal member 13 is pressed by the end surface S1 of the housing 11, and is inserted in the direction of arrow A in the drawing while the end surface S4 is in contact with the side wall surface S5 of the fitting recess 12a. Fitting recess 12
Since the air hole 12d is provided in the space between the seal member 13a and the seal member 13, the air is not sealed in this space.

Next, in FIG. 2B, the sealing member 13
Is in contact with the tip of the male terminal 3 and the tip is a through hole 13a.
Is approaching the hole. In the state so far, the seal member 13 tends to incline due to the frictional resistance due to the contact as in the conventional example. However, in the present embodiment, since the opening area of the through hole 13a is set smaller than the cross-sectional area of the male terminal 3, the male terminal 3 cuts the peripheral portion of the through hole 13a slightly while forming a guide path of the same hole. The position of the seal member 13 to be inclined is returned to a normal position.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the seal member 13 comes into contact with the bottom surface S2 of the fitting concave portion 12a, the seal member 13 is mounted at its proper position.

When the first connector 1 and the second connector 2 are connected in this way, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), a plurality of electrode terminals 3, 4 are connected by male and female and the electrode space is connected. The housing 11 and the housing 1 in a state where the housing 11 that separates the
2 is locked by the engagement between the lock claw 11c and the lock hole 12c.

In the coupled state shown in FIG. 1B, in addition to the sealing force in the direction perpendicular to the abutting surface S3 of the seal member 13, the compression generated by the housing 11 pressing and deforming the seal member 13 Butt surface S due to force
3, a sealing force in a direction parallel to the electrode terminal 3 is generated.
Desired sealing characteristics can be sufficiently ensured between the four.

In general, in a face seal with an abutting surface, the force required for sealing is the product of the seal area and the force per unit area. Need to be tightly bound.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the seal member 13 is pressed and deformed by the housing 11, and the male terminal 3 guided to the through hole 13a is
3, the insertion force is appropriately alleviated, and the sealing member 13 is prevented from being inserted obliquely, so that the connector can be connected while maintaining the desired sealing force. Can be reduced. As a result, the connector fitting operation becomes easy.

In the above embodiment, the second connector 2
Air hole 1 communicating with fitting recess 12a in housing 12
Although 2d is provided, when the hole 12b for penetration of the male terminal 3 is large and air escapes from the hole 12b to the outside,
It is not necessary to provide the air holes 12d.

In the above embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the through hole 13a in the axial direction is rectangular. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cross-sectional shape may be tapered or the like. An appropriate radius may be provided on the side facing the terminal 3. In this case, since the deformed seal member 13 is smoothly inserted into the insertion hole 13a, the operation force is further reduced, and the workability is improved.

In the above embodiment, the first connector is a female connector and the second connector is a male connector. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The connector may be a male connector and the second connector may be a female connector.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if a seal member manufactured by inexpensive stamping is used, the seal member is not inserted into the male terminal while being inclined, so that the seal surface can be pressed with a uniform force in the connector-coupled state. Therefore, sufficient sealing performance can be secured with an inexpensive configuration.

Also, by adopting a configuration in which the male terminal is guided by the seal member and inserted, the above-described insertion force is moderated moderately, so that the connector can be connected while the desired sealing force is secured. The operation force at the time of performing can be reduced. As a result, the connector fitting operation becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views illustrating a configuration example of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A illustrates a state before a connector is connected, and FIG. is there.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an operation state when a male terminal is inserted into a seal member in the embodiment;
(A) is a figure which shows an initial state, (b) shows a work start state, (c) shows a work completion state.

3A and 3B are cross-sectional views illustrating a configuration example of a conventional connector, in which FIG. 3A illustrates a state before a connector is connected, and FIG. 3B illustrates a state in which the connector is connected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st connector 2 2nd connector 3 Male terminal (electrode terminal) 4 Female terminal (electrode terminal) 10 Connector 11, 12 Housing 11a Fitting convex part 12a Fitting concave part 12d Air hole 13 Seal member 13a Through hole

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Hattori 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Harness Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Noriichi Okamura 1 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture 7-7-10 Harness Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroki Hirai 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Harness Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuji Tanaka Nagoya, Aichi 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Harness Research Institute, Inc. 5E087 EE02 EE14 FF02 FF06 KK02 LL03 LL12 RR12 RR29

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first connector provided with a housing having a fitting projection; and a second connector provided with a housing having a fitting recess fitted to the fitting projection. A female connector, which is interposed between a fitting concave portion of the second connector and a fitting convex portion of the first connector, and has a substantially planar shape for performing sealing by abutting against both portions when the connector is coupled. A connector provided with a through-hole smaller than the cross-sectional area of the male terminal constituting the electrode terminal at a position corresponding to the electrode terminal of the sealing member made of a soft elastic body. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the housing of the second connector is provided with an air hole communicating with a bottom surface of the fitting recess. 3. The material of the soft elastic body is JIS K60.
JIS-A hardness of 30 with spring hardness Hs of 30
3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is a silicone rubber or a silicone gel having a hardness smaller than that of the connector.