JP2002184514A - Waterproof structure of auxiliary equipment module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve an auxiliary equipment module whose performance is not damaged by the penetration of foreign substances such as moisture, dust, or the like. SOLUTION: The auxiliary equipment module Z comprises an auxiliary module 1, a base board 2 with a terminal 5e mounted to the auxiliary module 1, a case 3 to which the base board 2 is mounted. By mounting the base board 2 to the case 3, the terminal 5e' of the base board 2 and a connection part 5e located inside the case 3 are electrically connected as a connector 5. A sealing member D is applied in order to keep the tight sealing property of the auxiliary equipment module Z at its inside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
Auxiliary equipment such as a CD camera, a board attached to the auxiliary equipment, and a case to which these auxiliary equipment and the board are attached can be electrically connected using a connector,
The present invention relates to a waterproof structure of an auxiliary device module with improved sealing performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional camera modules Y and Z will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 shows a wire harness 4 on which a clamp 10 with an O-ring 11 is mounted.
FIG. The O-ring 11 is provided on the clamp 10 to keep the camera case 3 airtight when the clamp 10 is attached to the camera case 3.

The clamp 10 has a threaded portion 10 a for securely fixing the clamp 10 to the camera case 3, and a clamp 1.
A hexagonal head 10b used when fixing O to the camera case 3 by screwing work, and a flange that generates a fastening force between the clamp 10 and the camera case 3 and plays an important role in the sealing function of the O-ring 11 A part 10c.

[0006] An insertion hole 10 d for passing electric wires such as cables 4 a and 4 a ′ is provided inside the clamp 10. As shown in FIG.
In the insertion hole 10d of the attached clamp 10, electric wires 4a, 4a ', such as cables 4a, 4a' including the drain wire 4a ', etc., are inserted.
a 'is passed through and terminal 5p is connected to each cable 4
a, 4a '.

[0005] After the cables 4a, 4a 'are inserted into the insertion holes 10d of the clamp 10, a potting process 12 is performed. Here, a brief description of the potting process 12 means that a soft rubber or a soft resin such as an epoxy polymer is poured into a predetermined portion and sealed.

When the potting process 12 is performed as described above, it is possible to completely seal the cables 4a and 4a 'one by one, and moisture, dust, dust and the like inside the camera case 3 and inside the camera 1 are removed. Can be prevented from entering. Confirmation of the sealing property of the portion subjected to such potting processing 12 can be performed, for example, by checking airtightness and liquid tightness due to water leakage.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a conventional vehicle mounted CC.
It is a perspective view at the time of assembling the camera modules Y and Z provided with D camera. The camera module Y provided with a conventional vehicle-mounted CCD camera will be briefly described. The camera module Y mainly includes a camera 1 such as a vehicle-mounted CCD camera and a substrate 2 on which the camera 1 is mounted. The camera module Z includes a camera module Y in which the substrate 2 is mounted on the camera 1, a camera case 3 in which the camera module Y is mounted, and a wire harness 4 configured by bundling various cables 4a and 4a '. Have.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show a conventional vehicle mounted CC.
12 shows a process of assembling the D camera, and FIG. 12 is a perspective view specifically showing a state of a problem that occurs when the camera module Y including the camera 1 and the substrate 2 is assembled to the camera case 3. FIG. 13 is a conceptual view showing the connection of the wire harness 4 with the RR cross-sectional views of FIGS. 11 and 12. Specifically, the wire harness 4 is attached to the camera case 3 via the clamp 10. It is the expanded sectional view showing the state.

Here, the CCD will be briefly described. The CCD mainly refers to a charge-coupled device. More specifically, a CCD is a device that converts a signal captured as light such as an image into an electric signal using a semiconductor device that responds to light. Say. CCD is
This is an abbreviation for Charge Coupled Device, and is a semiconductor released in 1970 by Bell Laboratories in the United States. Generally, the quality of image quality of a CCD is often determined by the number of pixels, and the number of pixels of the CCD is widely set to several hundred thousand to several million. It is presumed that the number of pixels will be further increased according to future requirements.

[0010] CCDs are widely used in cameras such as digital cameras and video cameras, and in copying machines such as facsimile machines, scanners, copiers and laser beam printers. In the case of a digital camera, a CCD is arranged at the focal point instead of a silver halide film. Recently, CCDs with a large number of pixels have become inexpensive, and have greatly contributed to lowering the cost and improving image quality of digital cameras.

The components of the conventional camera module Z shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 will be described in detail. First, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the camera 1 mainly fixes the lens 1c and the lens 1c. And a lens peripheral portion 1d. Next, the substrate 2 to which the camera 1 is attached is mainly composed of a substrate main body 2 ', and electrical components such as connectors for making electrical connection are mounted on the substrate main body 2'. A connector housing 2c is provided on the board main body 2 'as a connector-related component. Also, a screw insertion hole 2 for attaching and fixing the substrate 2 to the camera case 3 with a fastener such as a screw 13b.
b are provided at a total of about four locations near the four corners of the substrate body 2 '.

The camera case 3 is configured such that a bottom wall 3c and four sides thereof are surrounded by side walls 3d and 3d ', thereby forming a housing chamber 3e. And the side wall 3d '
Further, there is provided a cylindrical projection 3g which functions to fix the clamp 10 and to seal the inside of the camera case 3. Screw fixing bodies 3a for mounting and fixing the substrate 2 provided with the camera 1 are provided at four corners in the accommodation room 3e of the camera case 3, and the female screw holes 3b are formed in the respective screw fixing bodies 3a. Is provided.

The clamp 1 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12
The mounting state of the camera case 3 and the camera case 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 13. A through hole 3f for passing a wire harness 4 formed by bundling cables 4a and 4a 'is provided in a side wall 3d' of the camera case 3. ing. A female screw groove is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 3f to be screwed with the threaded portion 10a of the clamp 10 and securely fixed.

Cables 4a, 4a 'shown in FIG. 10 are inserted into through holes 3f provided in the side wall 3d' of the camera case 3.
Is inserted. The threaded portion 10a of the clamp 10 and the through-hole 3f of the camera case 3 which have been threaded are screwed together, and the clamp 10 into which the wire harness 4 is inserted as shown in FIG. Fixed to 3.

The clamp 1 provided with the O-ring 11 described above around the through hole 3f of the camera case 3.
A cylindrical protrusion 3g is provided for guiding the O. 0 to the through-hole 3f in a favorable manner. The cylindrical protrusion 3g is also provided with an O
The airtightness of the ring 11 is maintained, and moisture, dust,
It also plays the role of a shielding plate to prevent intrusion of dust and the like.

As shown in FIG. 13, the wire harness 4 connects the camera case 3 to a non-waterproof connector 5r provided in the vehicle interior V. In addition, a terminal 5s is attached to one end of the drain wire 4a 'branched from a middle part of the wire harness 4, and the terminal 5s is attached to a frame of the vehicle body B with a screw 13c. Thus, the drain line 4a 'functions as a ground.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the cables 4a and 4a 'and the camera 1 such as a vehicle-mounted CCD camera are connected to the connector housing 2c by the cable 4a.
The connector housing 5q to which the connectors 4a and 4a 'are connected is inserted to form a connector and perform electrical connection. In this way, the board 2 including the camera 1 is electrically connected to the wire harness 4, the non-waterproof connector 5r provided in the vehicle interior V, the drain wire 4a ', and the like.

An example of a method of assembling a vehicle-mounted CCD camera shown in the prior art will be described in detail below. First,
The clamp 10 provided with the O-ring 11 is attached to the wire harness 4 shown in FIG. Next, clamp 1
The wire harness 4 configured by bundling the cables 4a, 4a 'and the like is inserted into the 0 through hole 10d, and the wire harness 4 and the clamp 10 are temporarily fixed.

Further, the camera case 3 is more than the clamp 10.
The part of the wire harness 4 that enters the inside of the
The tube 4d that protects and bundles the cables 4a and 4a 'is cut off with a blade or the like, and the cables 4a and 4a' are taken out of the tube 4d. A terminal 5p is attached to the end of each of the cables 4a, 4a '. The terminal 5p is housed inside a connector housing 5q shown in FIG.

In order to improve the sealing performance between the wire harness 4 and the clamp 10 in such a state, as shown in FIG. 10, a resin or rubber is poured into an insertion hole 10d of the clamp 10, and a potting process 12 is performed. Is fixed. Potting process 1 shown in FIGS. 10 and 13
2, the airtightness in the camera case 3 can be improved.

The electric wire 4 and the electric wire 4 as described above
May be referred to as assembling the wire harness 4 and the connector, or simply as a connector assembly (here, ASSY is abbreviated as ASSY). At this time, the cables 4a and 4a 'have a slight extra length as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 in order to connect the camera case 3 and the substrate 2, and in this manner, The clamp 10 is fixed to a predetermined portion of the wire harness 4.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the cables 4a, 4a,
The clamp 10 inserted in a 'is attached. Then, the threaded portion 10 of the clamp 10 to which the O-ring 11 is attached is inserted into the through hole 3 f of the camera case 3, that is, the female screw hole.
a, and the clamp 10 is fixed to the camera case 3 as shown in FIGS. At that time, FIG.
As indicated by 3, the O-ring 11 and the potting process 12 are designed to maintain the airtightness and airtightness inside the camera case 3.

After the preparation, the substrate 2 on which the camera 1 is mounted, that is, the camera module Y is mounted on the camera case 3. The assembly procedure at that time is shown in FIG.
1 and FIG. 12, first, the substrate body 2 '
Is connected to the connector component provided with the connector housing 2c provided on the wire harness 4 side.

After connecting the above-described connectors, the camera module Y is attached to the camera case 3. At first, the female screw holes 3b provided at the four corners of the camera case 3 are inserted into the screw insertion holes 2b provided in the substrate 2.
The camera module Y including the camera 1 and the substrate 2 is attached to the camera case 3 so that

Next, a screw 13b is passed through each screw insertion hole 2b provided in the substrate main body 2 ', and the screw is turned and tightened using a screwing means. Then, the screw 13b is screwed into the female screw hole 3b provided in the camera case 3, and thus the camera module Y and the camera case 3 are fixed, and the camera module Z is assembled.

On the other hand, focusing on peripheral technologies,
-42075. 7-4207
No. 5 discloses a connector connection device, and mainly does not change a combination order of each pair wire in a connector connection device for automatically wiring core wires of a plurality of pair wires of a cable to a temporary fixing cover of the connector. The contents about the alignment holding mechanism for automatically aligning in one line are introduced.

[0027]

However, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in the prior art, the connection between the camera module Y and the connectors attached to the ends of the cables 4a, 4a 'is made manually. Therefore, complicated work is required of the worker. In the accommodation room 3e of the camera case 3, cables 4a and 4a 'are provided,
In order to perform the assembling work by fixing this with the clamp 10 and connecting the connectors, etc., the efficiency such as workability was low.

More specifically, the conventional camera case 3 is provided with a through hole 3f through which the cables 4a and 4a 'pass, and through the cables 4a and 4a' with connectors attached to the through holes 3f. Since this connector was connected to the connector provided on the substrate 2, the operator had to perform complicated work in assembling work.

The conventional camera case 3 has a through hole 3f through which the cables 4a and 4a 'pass, and a threading process is applied to the through hole 3f. In order to improve the sealing performance of the through hole 3f, the clamp 10 must be fastened to the threaded portion and the clamp 10 to which the wire harness 4 is attached must be fastened to the camera case 3.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view when a problem occurs when the camera module Y is assembled to the camera case 3.
When the conventional camera module Y is to be mounted on the camera case 3, as shown in FIG.
There was concern that biting of a 'would occur.

The cables 4a, 4a 'as described above
In addition to the problem of biting, the auxiliary module Z shown in FIG. 11 also requires sealing measures for the connector housing 2c provided on the board 2 and the connector housing 5q attached to the ends of the cables 4a and 4a '. Therefore, there is a concern that foreign matter such as moisture, dust, and dust may enter the connector, and that such foreign matter may cause electrical contact failure due to the penetration into the connector. Was.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an operation of assembling a board provided with an accessory such as a camera and a terminal such as a press-contact terminal into a case, and at the same time, connecting a connecting portion such as an electric wire represented by a wire harness with An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof structure of an accessory module, which can be connected to the board and has a reduced number of parts, a smaller size, and a lighter weight provided on the periphery of the accessory such as a camera. And

In addition to the above, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12, when a board provided with an auxiliary device such as a camera is mounted on a case, electric wires such as a cable are caught. And to provide a waterproof structure for the accessory module without impairing the performance of the accessory module due to foreign substances such as moisture, dust, and dust entering the inside of the accessory module. And

[0034]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 includes an auxiliary machine, a board attached to the auxiliary machine and having terminals, and a case to which the board is attached. An auxiliary module, wherein the terminal of the substrate and a connection portion in the case are electrically connected as a connector by attaching the substrate to the case, and the sealing property inside the case is improved. The auxiliary module was provided with a waterproof structure provided with a sealing member for maintaining it.

By adopting such means, the board and the case on which the auxiliary equipment is mounted are modularized, and the number of peripheral components can be reduced, so that the size and weight can be reduced. In addition, the assembly structure is simplified. Then, by attaching the board provided with the auxiliary equipment to the case, it is possible to make an electrical connection at the same time.

Further, since the auxiliary equipment module is provided with a sealing member for maintaining the internal sealing performance, there is no need to use a complicated sealing structure to greatly increase the number of parts. Therefore, even in the case of an auxiliary machine module whose assembly structure is simplified, it is possible to maintain a good seal inside the auxiliary machine module. In this way, the inside of the accessory module is protected so as to prevent intrusion of moisture, dust, dust and the like from the outside, so that it is possible to prevent failure of the accessory module from occurring.

Further, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of defective products which have been concerned when assembling the conventional auxiliary machine. Conventionally, when attaching a board with attached auxiliary equipment to a case and assembling it, the electric wire may be sandwiched between the board and the case, and such an auxiliary equipment module has the electric wire broken inside. Had to be treated as defective.

However, discarding such a semi-finished product is undesirable in the global environment and wasteful in terms of production. Although it was necessary to reassemble the module, by employing the present invention, it is possible to eliminate such defective products without complicated work.

The accessory module of the present invention can be easily assembled and easily disassembled during the assembly process, so that the sealing member attached to the accessory module can be easily inspected. Can be.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the accessory module according to the first aspect, wherein the sealing member is provided on an opening side of a connector housing provided in the accessory module. The sealing member includes a packing, and by attaching the board to the case, the press-fitting connector provided on the board and the opening of the connector housing are joined to form the connector, and the packing is formed. Thus, the waterproof structure of the auxiliary module in which the connector is hermetically sealed is provided.

If such a means is adopted, the inside of the connector housing can be formed by attaching the substrate to the case.
It is sealed by a packing provided at a predetermined site.
Therefore, the inside of the connector can be protected from moisture, dust, dust, etc., and can maintain high sealing performance, and can eliminate the cause of the failure of the accessory module.

In the assembling process, by attaching the board to the case, the press-connecting connector provided on the board and the opening of the connector housing are combined to form the connector, and the connector is hermetically sealed by packing. Thus, an auxiliary module having excellent sealing performance can be quickly assembled without increasing a special process.

In the conventional accessory module, since the inside of the connector is not sealed, if moisture or the like enters the inside of the connector, moisture enters the board from the connector, and the moisture enters the accessory module. They were also worried about adverse effects. However, if the above measures are taken on the accessory module, foreign substances such as moisture, dust, and dust cannot enter the connector of the accessory module.
Auxiliary equipment modules do not cause trouble for a long time,
It is possible to maintain stable operation.

Further, when the press-connecting is performed using the press-connecting terminals specifically provided in the press-connecting connector, the electrical connection can be easily performed during the assembly work. As in the prior art, a terminal is attached to a cable, the terminal is housed in a connector housing to form a connector, and the connector is connected to another connector including a connector housing in which the terminal is housed and provided on a substrate. Then, instead of the structure in which the male and female connectors of the connector are performed, the board and the case are electrically connected via the connector by attaching the board provided with the press contact terminals to the case, so that the connector is easily disassembled. This structure is suitable for recycling. Therefore, it contributes to the reduction of industrial waste related to the recent global environment.

The operation at the time of press-connecting the conductor of the electric wire to the press-connecting terminal will be described. First, when the press-contact blade provided on the press-contact terminal starts to be pressed against an electric wire such as a cable protected by an insulating cover, an insulating cover made of a resin or rubber material of the wire by a sharp inclined portion, The insulating coating, such as enamel, which is thinly covered around the conductor, begins to tear. As the pressure contact further proceeds, the pressure contact slit provided in the central portion of the pressure contact terminal comes into contact with the conductor inside the electric wire while tearing the insulating coating. That is, the peeling of the insulating cover and the connection of the conductor can be performed simultaneously.

The press-contact slit having a substantially U-shape as described above comes into contact with the conductor inside the electric wire or the conductor coated with the enamel material, so that electricity can be supplied. That is, it is possible to conduct electricity only by pressing the press-contact blade against a predetermined portion of the conductor covered with the electric wire or the enamel material. As described above, the operation of assembling the board and the case provided with the accessory and the press-connecting connector described above and the operation of performing the press-connecting described above can be simultaneously performed.
Electrical connection can be made by assembling the board with the accessory attached thereto and the case.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2
The invention according to the auxiliary module described in (1), wherein a camera attached to an automobile is used as the auxiliary machine, and the auxiliary module having the camera module has a waterproof structure.

As described above, by applying the accessory module of the present invention to a camera module to be mounted on an automobile, the problem that the lens is fogged due to the intrusion of water into the camera module, which has been conventionally regarded as a problem, is solved. Can be suppressed. Further, it is possible to cope with the above-mentioned problem without significantly increasing the number of peripheral components of the camera module, and to reduce the size and weight of the camera module to be mounted on an automobile and to reduce the price associated therewith. Can be.

Further, an assembling structure of a camera, a board, and a case to be attached to an automobile is simplified. It is not a structure that attaches a crimp terminal to a cable like a conventional camera module and connected to a board connector to form a terminal, but is electrically connected using a crimping connector, so inspection, disassembly and repair Can be easily performed, and the camera module can be easily disassembled, so that the camera module suitable for recyclability can be provided.

[0050]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a camera module Z will be described as an example of an accessory module Z according to the present invention with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Parts having the same names as those of the conventional articles are denoted by the same reference numerals as those, and detailed description of the structure is omitted.

First, the up-down direction and the front-back direction will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Here, the side of the assembled camera module Z having the lens 1c is the upper side, and the bottom wall 3c side of the camera case 3 is the lower side. . In addition, camera case 3
The direction in which the electric wire 4 such as the wire harness 4 extends is referred to as a front side or a near side, and the opposite direction is referred to as a rear side or a back side.

Here, an assembly in which the substrate 2 is attached to the auxiliary equipment 1 such as the camera 1 and has at least two components is referred to as an auxiliary equipment module Y, specifically, a camera module Y. An accessory 1 such as the camera 1, a board 2 attached to the accessory 1 such as the camera 1, and a case 3 such as a camera case 3 to which such a board 2 is attached
An assembly including at least three components is referred to as an accessory module Z, and specifically, as a camera module Z. In the present invention, the camera modules Y and Z may be referred to as a crown.

The term "connector" as used in the present invention means a connector housing provided with electrical connection parts such as terminals, terminals, electric wires, etc., and refers to parts for electrical connection. Further, the connector according to the present invention
A packing, a rubber stopper, a rear holder, or the like may be assembled in addition to the electric connection parts. The connector may be referred to as a male connector when the male terminal is accommodated therein, or may be referred to as a female connector when the female terminal is accommodated.In the present invention, at least the terminal and the connector housing are provided. If it is a connector, it is called a connector, and here, there is no particular limitation on the male and female connectors.

Further, the electric wires 4, 4a, 4
a ′ and 4b are the cable 4a or the core wire including the wire harness 4 and the drain wire 4a ′,
Alternatively, these include a line that is not covered with only the conductor 4b. Here, the cables 4a and 4a 'of the present invention will be briefly described.
a and 4a 'are also called core wires, and are composed of one conductor 4b or a plurality of conductors 4b protected by an insulating coating 4c or an enamel material.

The camera used in the present invention is, for example, a camera using a CCD, a MOS (Metal Oxide Sem).
camera (which is an abbreviation of an icon). Although the CCD has been briefly described above, a CCD solid-state imaging device used as an example of the present invention will be described here.

The CCD is mainly provided with a photodiode (photosensitive element), a transfer gate, and an overflow drain, and there are transfer methods such as a frame transfer and an interline transfer depending on how to extract electric charges. In general, a CCD is provided with a vertical transfer section beside a photosensitive section, with a transfer gate between them. For example, in such a CCD, a high-resistance substrate is employed, and a p-well is provided under the n-layer of the vertical transfer section, thereby preventing photocharges generated in the back of the substrate from flowing into the transfer section. In this way, various measures have been taken to suppress the smear phenomenon.

The solid-state image pickup device of the CCD has a photosensitive portion, an overflow drain, a vertical / horizontal transfer portion, etc. arranged on a silicon substrate of less than 10 mm square. Further, on such a silicon substrate, about 200,000 to about 6 million pixels are arranged neatly like a grid. Explaining the number of pixels, for example, if one pixel is arranged 2,000 horizontally and 1500 vertically, the total is 2000 × 1500 = 3,000,000, and in this case, the number of pixels is 3,000,000.

When an optical image of a subject is formed on a surface of such a substrate through a lens, photoelectrons corresponding to the brightness are generated in each pixel. That is, the subject has been exchanged for an electronic image. Therefore, the photoelectrons are extracted as a video signal while the many pixels arranged on one surface are decomposed into horizontal scanning lines.

More specifically, when a transfer pulse is applied, photocharges generated by incident light are simultaneously transferred to the vertical transfer CC.
Move to D. Next, when a transfer pulse is applied to the vertical transfer CCD, this charge is transferred in the CCD in order from pixel to pixel, and finally reaches the horizontal transfer CCD, and this time, the horizontal transfer CCD is turned on every horizontal scanning cycle. , And are extracted as signals from the output unit.

In order to make the CCD more sensitive,
In some cases, it is difficult to secure a photosensitive area having a large area, but as an example of solving this problem, a high-sensitivity photosensitive element such as a target film of an image pickup tube is stacked on the charge transfer section.
In some cases, a solid-state imaging device having a layer structure is used. In the future solid-state imaging devices, the sensitivity will be higher than that of an imaging tube, the number of pixels will be increased to improve the resolution, reduce moiré, and reduce the image size. Expected to be a cost.

On the other hand, the MOS will be described.
Denotes a metal oxide film semiconductor, which is mainly used as an integrated circuit and has advantages such as low power consumption. A MOS solid-state imaging device generates a number of photocharges according to the intensity of incident light, and functions as a photodiode having a function of temporarily storing the photocharge and a switch for extracting the charge stored therein. A large number of pixels, each of which is composed of a combination of transistors, are arranged.

Hereinafter, an outline of assembling the camera module Z with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. FIG.
8 will be described together with a specific portion in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an accessory module Z of the present invention, and is a view showing a camera module Z as the accessory module Z. FIG. 2 is a top view of the camera case 3 shown in FIG. 1 and a conceptual diagram showing the connection of the wire harness 4, and shows details of the inside of the connector housing 5j shown in FIG. . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the camera case 3 has a bottom wall 3c and four sides of the bottom wall 3c.
An accommodation room 3e is formed surrounded by d and 3d '.

Referring to FIG. 1, a camera module Y in which a substrate 2 is mounted on a camera 1 having a CCD.
And the cover 8 for the mounting case
2 shows a state in which it can be attached to a predetermined position. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the camera module Z includes at least a camera 1 having a CCD, a substrate 2 attached to the camera 1 and having a terminal 5e, that is, a camera module Y, and a camera including the substrate 2 provided with the camera 1. A camera case 3 to which the module Y is attached.

Then, by mounting the board 2 in the camera case 3 so as to be accommodated along the mounting direction S1, the terminals 5e of the board 2 and the connecting portions 5e 'in the camera case 3 are electrically connected as connectors 5. It is configured to be connected. In order to maintain the hermeticity of the camera module Z including the camera case 3 and the connector 5, sealing members such as a mat seal 9 and a packing D are provided.
The camera case 3 is provided.

In this way, the board 2 on which the camera 1 is mounted and the camera case 3 are modularized, and the number of peripheral components can be reduced, so that the size and weight can be reduced. In addition, the assembly structure is simplified. By attaching the substrate 2 provided with the camera 1 to the camera case 3, electrical connection can be performed at the same time.

Further, since the camera module Z is provided with a sealing member such as a packing D and a mat seal 9 for maintaining the hermeticity of the camera module Z including the camera case 3, the connector 5, and the like, the structure is complicated. There is no need to increase the number of parts by using a simple sealing structure. Therefore, even if the camera module Z has a simplified assembly structure, the inside of the camera module Z can be kept well sealed. In this way, the inside of the camera module Z is protected by preventing intrusion of moisture, dust, dust and the like from the outside, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a malfunction of the camera module Z.

Further, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of a defective product which has been concerned when assembling the conventional camera module Z as shown in FIG. Conventionally, camera 1
When the board 2 with the above is attached to the camera case 3 and assembled, the cable 4a and the drain wire 4a 'may be interposed between the board 2 and the camera case 3, and such a camera module Z Cable 4
a, there was a concern that the drain line 4a 'was broken internally, so it had to be treated as a defective product.

However, discarding such a semi-finished product is undesirable in the global environment and wasteful in terms of production. Therefore, the cable 4a, the drain wire 4a ', and the tube 4d are provided again. Wire harness 4,
There is also a need to reassemble the camera module Z by replacing parts related to the electric wire 4 such as the clamp 10. However, by adopting the present invention, it is possible to eliminate such defective products without troublesome work.

The camera module Z of the present invention can be easily assembled and easily disassembled during the assembling process.
Inspection of the packing D attached to the connector housing 5j of e can be easily performed.

A detailed description will be given of each part shown in FIG. 1. The camera 1 includes a camera body 1 ′ having a CCD,
It is composed of a portion including a screw fixing portion 1a, a screw insertion hole 1b, a lens 1c, a lens peripheral portion 1d, and a positioning hole 1e. Each positioning hole 1e drilled in the camera body 1 'connects the camera body 1' and the board body 2 '.
The camera body 1 '
Are provided in the vicinity of the four corners. Corresponding to these positioning holes 1e, about four protrusions for positioning are provided on the back side of the substrate body 2 'shown in FIG.

A press-connecting connector 5a is provided on the lower surface side of the substrate 2, and the press-connecting connector 5a includes a connector housing 5b and a press-connecting terminal 5e. The connector housing 5b includes a top wall 5c and a pair of guide portions 5d provided at both ends of the top wall 5c.
The press-connecting connector 5 a is attached to a predetermined position of the board main body 2 ′, and is configured as a part of the board 2.

A more detailed description will be given based on the camera module Z of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. Connector housing 5j provided inside camera module Z
A packing D, which is one of the sealing members D, is provided on the side of the opening 5m '. As shown in FIG.
The camera module Y is mounted so as to be housed in the camera case 3 on which the board 2 having the press-connecting connector 5 a provided with the press-connecting terminal 5 e is mounted, so that the press-connecting connector 5 a provided on the board 2 and the camera case 3 The connector 5 is formed together with the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room 3e, and the connector 5 is sealed by the packing D.

In this manner, by mounting the board 2 on the camera case 3, the inside of the connector housing 5j is sealed by the packing D provided at a predetermined position. Therefore, the inside of the connector 5 can be protected from moisture, dust, dust, and the like, and high sealing performance can be maintained.

In the assembling process, the board 2 is attached to the camera case 3 so that the press-connecting connector 5a provided on the board 2 and the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j provided in the housing chamber 3e of the camera case 3 are provided. Are combined with each other to form the connector 5 and the packing D
Since the connector 5 is hermetically sealed, the camera module Z having excellent sealing properties can be quickly assembled without increasing complicated and special steps.

In the conventional camera module Z shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, since the inside of the connector is not sealed, when moisture or the like enters the inside of the connector, the connector 2 enters the board 2 from the connector. Moisture enters,
It was feared that this would have an adverse effect on the camera module Z. However, if the above-described countermeasures are applied to the camera module Z as in the present invention, foreign matters such as moisture, dust, and dust cannot enter the connector 5 of the camera module Z, and thus the camera module Z may cause trouble for a long time. Without doing so, a stable operation can be maintained.

The camera case 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2
The connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room 3e will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which packing D, which is a kind of sealing member D, is attached to an opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which packing D, which is a kind of sealing member D, is attached to the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j shown in FIG. It is the perspective view which showed the cross section.

The connector housing 5j shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed integrally with the camera case 3 in the accommodation room 3e of the camera case 3. The connector housing 5j may be provided separately from the camera case 3. However, in order to reduce the number of parts to reduce the size and weight and to reduce the price associated therewith, the connector housing 5j is provided with a camera. It is preferable to be integrally formed with the case 3. The connector housing 5j is the same as that shown in FIG.
And a size corresponding to the shape of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the connector housing 5j has a bottom wall 5k and four sides of the bottom wall 5k.
1, 3 and 4, a housing chamber 5m is formed in the connector housing 5j, and an upper portion of the housing chamber 5m is an opening 5m '. The upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG.
And the lower surface 5c 'of the main body.

As shown in FIG. 3, a groove G for accommodating the packing D is provided on the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j. This groove G has an inner peripheral side wall surface G1 and
An outer peripheral side wall surface G2 provided on the outer periphery of the inner peripheral side wall surface G1 so as to be parallel to the inner peripheral side wall surface G1 with the same width.
And a bottom wall G3 formed so as to intersect at right angles with the inner peripheral side wall surface G1 and the outer peripheral side wall surface G2, and has no terminal end near the periphery of the opening 5m 'of the accommodation room 5m. It is provided as an annular groove.

If the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j is used as a reference surface, the inner peripheral side wall surface G1 of the groove G and the outer peripheral side wall surface G2
Are provided so as to be perpendicular to the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j, and the bottom wall surface G3 of the groove G is provided so as to be parallel to the upper surface 5j' of the connector housing 5j. Further, the groove G is formed as one annular groove from four bent portions G4 having a curved shape and a straight line portion connecting the bent portions G4. The groove G is set to a predetermined width Gw as shown in FIG. 3 and is engraved to a predetermined depth Gd as shown in FIG. Has become.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, packing D
Is provided around the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j. The packing D has a potential restoring elastic force as represented by a rubber material and an elastomer material. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rubber packing D is formed of a continuous annular member, and is an annular member having no end portion, that is, a so-called endless ring.

The packing D shown in FIG. 3 is fitted along the mounting direction S2 as shown in FIG. 4 so as to correspond to the shape of the groove G provided on the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j. . Corresponding to the four bent portions G4 of the groove G, four bent portions D1 are also formed in the packing D fitted in the groove G. Here, the packing D shown in FIG. 3 is assumed to be fitted into the groove G provided on the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j, and is drawn in a shape corresponding to the groove G of the other party for convenience. .

As shown in FIG. 4, the cross section of the packing D has a substantially circular cross section. Such a packing D is inserted into an annular groove G having a rectangular cross section. The diameter Dd of the packing D is set to be larger than the depth Gd of the groove G. Here, the depth Gd of the groove G indicates a distance from the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j to the bottom wall surface G3 of the groove G.

The diameter Dd of the packing D is equal to the depth Gd of the groove G.
Since it is set to a larger size, in the process of assembling auxiliary modules such as camera modules,
With the packing D fitted in the groove G provided in the connector housing 5j, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the packing D is positioned above the upper surface 5j 'of the connector housing 5j. However, only the amount of the crushing amount L,
It is in a state of protruding.

Connector housing 5j provided with annular groove G
To absorb the difference in linear expansion coefficient between different materials,
Even if there is a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the object to be sealed, the packing D can be moved with a margin in the groove G so that no excessive force is applied to the packing D. The width Gw of the annular groove G shown in FIG. 3 is longer than the diameter Dd of the packing D so that the continuous annular packing D can be easily fitted into the annular groove G having a predetermined shape. Is set to Here, the width Gw of the annular groove G indicates the dimension of the shortest distance from the inner peripheral side wall surface G1 of the groove G to the outer peripheral side wall surface G2.

For the above reason, the sectional area Ga of the annular groove G having a rectangular section is set to be larger than the sectional area Da of the packing D having a substantially circular sectional shape. Here, the sectional area Ga of the annular groove G shown in FIG.
It is determined from the product of the width Gw of the groove G and the depth Gd of the groove shown in FIG. The cross-sectional area Da of the packing D shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is obtained by squaring the radius of the packing D (that is, the diameter Dd / 2) and multiplying the square by the π.

The press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. 5 is designed so that each press-connecting terminal 5e of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. 5 is accommodated in the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j shown in FIGS. 3 and the connector housing 5j shown in FIG. At this time, the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. 5 and the upper surface 5j' of the connector housing 5j shown in FIG.

In this manner, the packing allowance L of the packing D
Is pressed against the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a to be crushed, thereby exerting a restoring force on the packing D, whereby the packing D comes into close contact with the surrounding surface. , Reliable sealing performance is exhibited.

The packing D shown in FIG. 3 has a bottom wall G3 of the groove G and a top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG.
Is sandwiched between the lower surface 5c 'and the lower surface 5c'. Then, the cross-sectional shape of the packing D is deformed from a substantially perfect circle to an elliptical shape. However, as described above with reference to FIG. 3, the width Gw of the annular groove G is longer than the diameter Dd of the packing D that fits therein. Because the distance is set, the packing D is deformed from a substantially circular cross section to an elliptical cross section, that is, the dimension resulting from the packing D, that is, the maximum diameter of the cross sectional elliptical shape of the packing D and the diameter of the packing D which has the original substantially perfect circular shape. The difference from Dd is absorbed in the annular groove G, and the sealing performance is favorably maintained.

In addition, in correspondence with the pressure contact terminals 5e arranged at equal intervals on the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the pressure contact connector 5a shown in FIG. In order to be connected, as shown in FIG. 4, each mounting portion 5n for supporting a cable is
The camera module is provided at regular intervals in alignment with the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j provided in the housing of the camera module.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, through-holes 5m "for inserting cables are provided in the side wall 5k" of the connector housing 5j corresponding to the mounting portions 5n. ing. In order to easily and quickly attach each cable to the connector housing 5j, the side wall 5k "constituting the connector housing 5j.
The diameter of each through-hole 5m "provided in the above is set to be larger than the diameter of a predetermined cable.

By providing a predetermined cable at the above-mentioned portion shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector housing 5j provided in the housing chamber 3e of the camera case 3 as shown in FIGS. The connection portion 5e 'is configured to enable electrical connection. By doing so, the cables 4a are aligned and positioned at equal intervals, and the substrate 2 provided with the pressure contact terminals 5e shown in FIG.
When the camera is mounted on the camera case 3, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the press-connecting terminal 5e is accurately connected to the cable 4a by press-connecting, so that electrical connection can be easily and reliably performed. .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector housing 5j provided in the housing of the camera case is provided.
Is provided from the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing to the bottom wall of the camera case so as to form a space. In this manner, the meat steal is provided below the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j. By providing the portion 5j ″, the weight of the camera case can be reduced and the material cost can be reduced, and accordingly, a lightweight and inexpensive camera module Z can be provided.

As described above, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cable 4a and the drain wire 4a 'are mounted in the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j, and the connector housing 5j has a connection portion 5e'. Is done. At this time, when performing the pressure connection, each of the cables 4a, 4a including the drain wire 4a 'is pressed by the pressure terminal 5e.
In order to prevent a 'from moving from a predetermined position and being displaced, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a displacement prevention piece 6 is attached to the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j.
It is preferable to provide them near the periphery of the cables 4a, 4a '.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cables 4a, 4a 'are connected to the housing 5m of the connector housing 5j.
Are arranged at equal intervals. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the press contact terminal 5e provided in the press contact connector 5a is connected to the cables 4a, 4a 'provided in the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j. An opening 5m 'is provided in the upper part of the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j shown in FIG.

The shapes of the press-connecting connector 5a and the press-connecting terminal 5e shown in FIG.
The process of pressure contact connection with a 'will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. The press contact connector 5a mainly includes a press contact terminal 5e having a pair of press contact blades 5f and a connector housing 5b. Press-fit connector 5
a is incorporated in the substrate 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and the press contact terminals 5e are connected to various electric circuits provided on the substrate main body 2 '.

The lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a.
In addition, six pressure contact terminals 5e are provided in a line in parallel and arranged at equal intervals. The press contact terminals 5e may be provided in a staggered arrangement for miniaturization and space saving of the press contact connector 5a. The guide portion 5d of the connector housing 5b functions as a guide when the press-connecting connector 5a is fitted to the connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room 3e of the camera case 3 so as to fit therewith.

More specifically, when the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. 5 is mounted so as to cover the connector housing 5j shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIG. 5 is constituted. The surfaces of the pair of guide portions 5d facing each other are shown in FIGS.
A pair of side walls 5k 'of the connector housing 5j shown in FIG.
Is in sliding contact with the outer surface of Thus, peripheral components including the press-connecting connector 5a are guided and attached to the connector housing 5j.

The guide portion 5d of the connector housing 5b shown in FIG. 5 is not limited to the outer surfaces of the pair of side walls 5k 'of the mating connector housing 5j shown in FIGS. Alternatively, the guide may be guided in sliding contact with the side surface, that is, the inner surfaces of the pair of side walls 5k 'of the mating connector housing 5j.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory view when the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal 5e of the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 and the cable 4a shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is started. FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a state where the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal 5e and the cable 4a shown in FIG. 6 has been started along the mounting direction S1. FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a state where the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal 5e and the cable 4a shown in FIG. 7 is completed. 6 to 8, the connector housing 5j shown in FIG.
Q1 to Q1 sectional view of the connecting portion 5e 'is shown.

The shape of the press contact terminal 5e will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Two press contact blades 5f are arranged in parallel so that the inclined portions 5g face each other. 5f is the pressure contact terminal 5
e is configured. Describing the press-contact blade 5f in detail, a portion of the press-contact blade 5f where the cable 4a starts to be inserted is formed with a pair of inclined portions 5g for facilitating the introduction of the cable 4a to the press-contact slit 5i.
The blade portion 5f 'is provided on the inclined portion 5g, and the blade portion 5f' is provided.
f 'is sharp and inclined. As shown in FIG. 5, the blade portion 5f 'is formed so that the plate thickness of the press contact terminal 5e is gradually reduced.

Further, in order to guide the conductor 4b of the cable 4a into the center of the press contact terminal 5e,
The press-contact slit 5i is smaller than the diameter of the cable 4a and has such a size that the bundled conductor 4b is not damaged or disconnected more than necessary. The press contact slit 5i is formed in a substantially U-shape. As described above, the shape of the press contact terminal is a press contact terminal having a general shape as described above, but may be a press contact terminal of another shape in the present invention.

For example, when the camera module Y is manufactured by combining the camera 1 and the substrate 2 or when the camera module Y is housed and mounted in the camera case 3, the end 5 h of the press-connecting terminal 5 e is used as a press-connecting blade. A sharp edge of 5f is provided to prevent inadvertent injury to the hand. However, the end 5h may have a sharp tip shape depending on the size and shape of the press contact terminal, the site where the press contact terminal is used, and the like.

The press contact terminal 5e is used for electrical connection with a conductor 4b such as a core wire protected by an insulating cover 4c such as a resin material, a rubber material, or a composite material or an enamel material thereof. By pressing the cable 4a composed of a plurality of conductors 4b protected by the insulating cover 4c against the press contact terminal 5e, the peeling of the insulating cover 4c of the cable 4a and the connection of the conductor 4b are performed at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG.
“a” is formed of a plurality of conductors 4b and an insulating cover 4c to form a core wire, and a minute gap 4b ′ is seen between the conductors 4b. The material of the insulating cover 4c and the tube 4d of the electric wire 4 such as the cables 4a and 4a 'used in the present invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 to 8 is, for example, soft resin,
Rubber and the like. Electric wire 4 such as wire harness 4
Is provided with cables 4a and 4a 'mainly composed of a conductor 4b and an insulating cover 4c, a tube 4d, and the like, and is used so that necessary portions can be bent.

For this reason, the material of the conductor 4b is preferably a metal wire having not only good electrical conductivity but also resistance to repeated bending. In the present invention, a plurality of conductors 4b are bundled and twisted appropriately. Thus, the core wire is excellent in strength and the like. Further, in order to further increase the insulating property of the surface of the conductor 4b made of a metal wire, the conductor 4b coated with an enamel material may be used for the electric wire 4 such as the wire harness 4.

Then, the insulating cover 4 for protecting the conductor 4b
c is also preferably an insulating material having a property that can withstand repeated bending as described above,
As such a material, for example, an insulating coating material 4c made of a synthetic resin material, a soft resin material, a rubber material, or a mixture thereof may be used for the electric wire 4 such as the wire harness 4.

The press contact blade 5f of the press contact terminal 5e shown in FIG.
The operation when the conductor 4b of the cable 4a is press-connected to the press-contact slit 5i of the press-contact terminal 5e through the connection will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 6, the press contact terminal 5e faces the cable 4a,
Then, it is lowered along the mounting direction S1 to start the pressure connection. Specifically, the electric wire 4a such as the cable 4a
The crimping connection is started such that the surfaces of the pair of crimping blades 5f forming the crimping terminal 5e are substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the wire 4a extends.

First, the press contact blade 5 provided on the press contact terminal 5e
f starts to be pressed against the cable 4a protected by the insulating cover 4c. Then, as shown in FIG.
Due to the sharp inclined portion of e, that is, the blade portion 5f ', the insulating coating of the cable 4a made of a resin material or a rubber material or the insulating coating of an enamel material thinly covered around the conductor starts to be torn. . At this time, the pair of press-contact blades 5f constituting the press-contact terminal 5e are expanded in the opening direction, and the press-contact slit 5i is in a slightly widened state.

When the pressure contact is further made, the pressure contact slit 5i provided at the center of the pressure contact terminal 5e comes into contact with the conductor inside the cable 4a while cutting off the insulating coating, as shown in FIG. State. By using the press contact terminals 5e in this manner, peeling of the insulating cover and connection of the conductor can be performed simultaneously.

As described above, the substantially U-shaped press-contact slit 5i having the press-contact blade 5f comes into contact with the conductor inside the cable 4a or the conductor coated with the enamel material, so that a current can be supplied. That is, it is possible to conduct electricity only by pressing the press-contact blade 5f of the press-contact terminal 5e to a predetermined portion of the cable 4a or the conductor coated with the enamel material.

As described above, the operation of assembling the camera 1 and the substrate 2 provided with the press-connecting connector 5a, ie, the camera module Y and the camera case 3, and the above-described press-connecting operation are simultaneously performed. Therefore, by assembling the camera case 3 with the board 2 to which the camera 1 and the press-connecting connector 5a are attached,
Electrical connection can be made. If the press-connecting connection is specifically performed using the press-connecting terminal 5e as described above, electrical connection can be easily performed at the time of assembly work.

As in the prior art shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, terminals or terminals are attached to the cables 4a and 4a ', and the terminals are housed in the connector housing 5q to constitute a connector. Connector housing 2 housed and provided on substrate body 2 '
The connector 2 is not connected to another connector made of male and female, and the male and female connectors are connected to each other. Instead, the substrate 2 provided with the press-contact terminals 5e is attached to the camera case 3 as shown in FIG. Thus, since the substrate 2 and the camera case 3 are electrically connected via the connector 5, the structure can be easily disassembled and is suitable for recycling. Therefore, it contributes to the reduction of industrial waste related to the recent global environment.

Here, the terminals will be briefly described. The terminals are classified into pressure contact terminals and crimp terminals. ID terminal 5e
As described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, the blade 4f ′ provided on the press-contact blade 5f of the press-contact terminal 5e is attached to the electric wire 4 such as the cable 4a in which the conductor 4b is protected by the insulating cover 4c. By the pressure contact, the peeling of the insulating cover 4c and the connection of the conductor 4b are simultaneously performed.
A typical example is a terminal provided with a pressure contact slit 5i and provided with a U-contact. The press contact slit 5i may be simply called a slit.

On the other hand, a crimp terminal refers to a terminal having a barrel that is mechanically and electrically connected to an electric wire using a crimping tool or the like, and a barrel generally means a portion of an insulating coating of the electric wire. Both a wire barrel for crimping the removed conductor portion and an insulation barrel for crimping the insulating coating of the electric wire are provided. Wire barrels are divided into closed barrels and open barrels.

For example, in the present invention, the substrate 2 shown in FIG.
Is replaced with a male connector or a female connector accommodating a crimp terminal, while the cables 4a, 4a 'in the connector housing 5j are replaced.
May be replaced with a female connector or a male connector that can be fitted to the connector, and a terminal on the mating connection side corresponding to the terminal may be stored in the connector.

Also, the portions of the cables 4a and 4a 'provided in the connector housing 5j are formed by bus bars or the like, and the ends of the bus bars are formed in a predetermined terminal shape.
You may make it connectable with the connector component provided in the board | substrate, and as long as the objective of this invention is not impaired,
All types of terminals and connectors can be used.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6 to 8, the mounting portion 5n is mounted on the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j.
Is provided. As shown in FIG.
Is composed of a root portion 5n ', a support portion 5n ", and a support portion 5nx. When the mounting portion 5n is described in detail, the root portion 5n is formed on the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j.
n 'is provided, and a pillar 5 which is perpendicular to the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j and which faces upward from the base 5n'.
The support portion 5nx formed of a curved surface corresponding to the outer peripheral shape of the cable 4a is provided at the upward end of the support portion 5n ″.

The support portion 5nx has a curved shape corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the cable 4a for mounting the cable 4a. This curved surface has a radius of curvature substantially equal to the radius of the cable 4a. A cable 4a composed of a plurality of conductors 4b protected by an insulating cover 4c is provided on the support 5nx having such a curved surface. Since the shape of the support portion 5nx provided above the support portion 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n has a curved shape corresponding to the outer peripheral shape of the electric wire 4a such as the cable 4a, the cable 4
The electric wire 4a such as a is easily stably placed on the support portion 5nx of the mounting portion 5n.

The width of the support portion 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n is
Since the width dimension is set smaller than the width of the press contact slit 5i of the press contact terminal 5e corresponding thereto, as shown in FIG. 8, the periphery of the distal end of the press contact terminal 5e corresponds to the mounting portion 5n. Moderately fit. With such a setting, the portion of the press contact slit 5i of the press contact terminal 5e does not interfere with the mounting portion 5n.

Further, the width of the column 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n is
By setting the width smaller than the width of the corresponding pressing slit 5i of the pressing terminal 5e, the pressing connection is performed while the pressing slit 5i of the pressing terminal 5e is guided by the column 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n. It can be expected that this will result in a more reliable and stable crimp connection.

The shape of the displacement preventing piece 6 will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the misalignment preventing piece 6 has a substantially U-shaped portion and is formed so as to hold the cable 4 a from one side.

The misalignment preventing piece 6 is roughly divided into a root 6a, a support 6b, and a curved portion 6c. The bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j is provided with a root 6a of the misalignment preventing piece 6, and the support portion 6b of the misalignment preventing piece 6 extends upward from the root 6a.
Is provided with a curved portion 6c serving to prevent the cable 4a from coming off. The curved portion 6c mainly includes an upper inclined surface 6d, a curved inward surface 6e, and a curved outer surface 6f. In addition, a portion where the upper inclined surface 6d and the curved inward surface 6e intersect is referred to as a tip portion 6j here.

The column 6b has one end face 6g and the other end face 6h.
And a side surface 6i. As described above, the misalignment prevention piece 6 is formed by bending the support portion 6b having a substantially rectangular cross section at the upper portion. Such misalignment preventing pieces 6 are arranged such that the tips 6j are unified in a certain direction, and are aligned with the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j. The curved portion 6c may have an arc shape, or may have a substantially linearly bent shape instead of the arc shape.

The curved inward surface 6e of the curved portion 6c of the positional deviation preventing piece 6 is formed so as to hold the cable 4a, but as shown in FIGS. , Cable 4a. The peripheral portion including the curved portion 6c of the misalignment preventing piece 6 may be pressed down so as to lightly attach the surface of the cable 4a.

For example, the curved inward surface 6e of the curved portion 6c of one of the positional deviation preventing pieces 6 and the other positional deviation preventing piece 6
May be configured to contact the cable 4a with the one end surface 6g of the support 6b. By doing so, the cable 4a
Are located on the curved inward surface 6e of the curved portion 6c of the one misalignment prevention piece 6, the one end surface 6g of the support portion 6b of the other misalignment prevention piece 6, and the support portion 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n. It is substantially fixed at three points by the provided support portion 5nx, so that at least one or more misalignment preventing pieces 6 adjacent to the cable 4a cross section and the mounting portion 5n are provided. If the cable 4a is fixed at the three points of the support portion 5nx, the cable 4a is stably connected to the connector housing 5j.
In the accommodation room 5m.

When attaching the cable 4a to the mounting portion 5n, the upper inclined surface 6d of the curved portion 6c is attached to the mounting portion 5n from the top to the bottom so that the cable 4a can be easily fitted into the misalignment preventing piece 6. An inclined surface is formed such that a facing surface is formed.

Then, one end portion 6 of the displacement preventing piece 6
The minimum clearance 6k from j to one end face 6g of the support portion 6b of the other misalignment prevention piece 6 is
a is smaller than the diameter of the cable 4a so that the cable a does not easily come out of the vicinity of the curved portion 6c of the displacement prevention piece 6, and the cable 4a can be easily fitted into the displacement prevention piece 6. Is set to 6 g.

In this way, when attaching the cable 4a to the mounting portion 5n, the displacement preventing piece 6 formed of an elastic material such as a synthetic resin is appropriately elastically deformed to mount the cable 4a. The support portion 5nx of the placing portion 5n can be easily provided. At the same time, the cable 4a once provided on the mounting portion 5n is made difficult to remove again by the periphery of the curved portion 6c of the misalignment preventing piece 6. In this manner, the cable 4a enters between the positional deviation preventing pieces 6 located on the left and right with respect to the cross section of the cable 4a, and is attached to the curved support portion 5nx provided on the mounting portion 5n. .

As described above, the cable 4a is once connected to the mounting portion 5 in the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j.
n, the cable 4a is accidentally detached from the mounting portion 5n of the cable 4a.
It is possible to avoid a problem that the pressure connection between the cable e and the cable 4a is not satisfactorily performed. Misalignment prevention piece 6
The cable 4a and the cable 4a may be fixed in contact with each other, and as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a proper gap is provided between the misalignment preventing piece 6 and the cable 4a. Alternatively, both may be in a non-contact state with each other.

In order to absorb the mounting error of each part and the run-out at the time of mounting, the cable 4
a, 4a 'and a slight amount of play are required between the press contact blade 5f. Here, the support portion 6 of the one misalignment prevention piece 6 is used.
The dimension from one end face 6g of b to the other end face 6h of the other misalignment prevention piece 6 is set to be longer than the diameter dimension of the cable 4a, so that a margin is provided for mounting errors at the time of press-connecting. It is.

As described above, if the cable 4a is provided with the mounting portion 5n and the displacement prevention piece 6 is provided around the cable 4a, the press-connecting blade of the press-connecting terminal 5e is used when performing the press-connecting. When the cable 5a starts to tear the cable 4a, the cable 4a can receive the press-contact force generated in the press-contact blade 5f by the mounting portion 5n. In addition, the pressure connection is favorably performed without being displaced from the mounting portion 5n.

The misalignment preventing piece 6 is preferably formed of a synthetic resin that can be injection-molded and has a thermoplastic property. At that time, the connector housing 5
j, and the misalignment preventing piece 6 and the connector housing 5j may be formed integrally with each other, or they may be provided as separate components in the housing chamber 5m of the connector housing 5j. You may be.

As described above, the connector housing 5j
By providing the mounting portion 5n of the cable 4a and the misalignment preventing piece 6 of the cable 4a in the accommodation room 5m, the worker must pay extra attention to the connector 5 when assembling the camera module Z. Without becoming
Further, even if the assembling operation is performed by the automatic assembling machine, the connection of the connector 5 is performed well. Therefore, it is possible to speed up the assembly work and improve the efficiency, and as a result,
It is possible to provide a camera module Z that is inexpensive and does not easily cause problems.

The misalignment preventing piece 6 is provided between the mounting portion 5n of the adjacent cable 4a and the connector housing 5j.
Are arranged in a line at equal intervals between the side wall of the mounting member 5n and the mounting portion 5n.
It is preferable because the force applied from the press contact terminals 5e arranged at equal intervals and aligned with a can be uniformly received.
In order to reduce the size and space of the connector housing 5j, the misalignment preventing pieces 6 may be provided in a staggered arrangement with respect to the cables 4a adjacent to each other.

Further, depending on the shape and specifications of the connector housing, the misalignment preventing piece 6 between at least one side wall of the connector housing and the mounting portion 5n may be omitted. The displacement preventing piece 6 is a position that does not interfere with the press contact terminal 5e when performing the press contact connection, and extends along the cable 4a around the position where the press contact terminal 5e is attached to one cable 4a. It may be provided at two places in the line direction, that is, about one pair.

As described above, corresponding to the single cable 4a, the position preventing pieces 6 are respectively connected to the connector housings 5a.
If it is provided on the bottom wall 5k of j, it is expected that the pressure contact terminal 5e and the cable 4a will be securely connected by pressure when performing pressure connection. In the embodiment of the present invention, in order to prevent displacement of a total of six cables 4a provided in the accommodating chamber 5m of the connector housing 5j at the time of press-fitting connection, the positional displacement prevention pieces 6 are provided at approximately seven positions in the connector housing. 5j is provided in the accommodation room 5m.

Next, when the press contact terminal 5e shown in FIG. 6 is pushed down along the mounting direction S1 and the press connection is started as shown in FIG. 7, the mounting portion 5n of the cable 4a and The function of the displacement prevention piece 6 will be described.

When the pressure contact connection is made, the pair of pressure contact blades 5f of the pressure contact terminal 5e are deformed for a moment and tend to spread in the opening direction. During the press-fitting connection, the press-fitting force from the press-fitting terminal 5e acts on the cable 4a, and the cable 4a inadvertently tries to escape from the press-fitting force.
a may fall from the mounting portion 5n to the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j, which may make it impossible to make a good pressure contact connection.

However, the cable 4a is provided with a curved mounting portion 5n formed corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the cable 4a and a position preventing piece provided on at least one of the right and left sides with respect to the cross section of the cable 4a. 6 restricts the movement, so that the cable 4a is extremely
It is considered that there is no problem that the connection is further shifted and the pressure connection cannot be performed satisfactorily.

The press contact terminal 5e shown in FIG.
Further pressing down along the mounting direction S1 terminates the crimp connection as shown in FIG. The conductor 4b of the cable 4a is brought into contact with the press-fitting slit 5i of the press-fitting terminal 5e to complete the press-fitting connection.
e becomes a state where current can be supplied.

In addition to the operation of the press-connecting,
The crushing allowance L of the packing D shown in FIGS.
The lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the connector housing 5b constituting the press-connecting connector 5a is crushed by the lower surface 5c', so that the entire packing D fits into the corresponding groove G as shown in FIG. Sealing is performed. Here, the packing D and its peripheral portion shown in FIG. 6 are illustrated in detail in FIG. 7 for convenience. In this manner, as described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8, it is possible to simultaneously perform the electrical connection of the accessory module such as the camera module and the sealing in the connector.

The sealing state will be described in detail. The packing D is provided in the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the connector housing 5b constituting the press-connecting connector 5a and the housing chamber of the camera case by the restoring force of rubber elasticity. Of the groove G formed in the vicinity of the periphery of the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j. In this manner, between the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the connector housing 5b constituting the press-connecting connector 5a and the upper surface 5j' near the periphery of the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room of the camera case. Is well sealed.

As the fixing means, supporting means, displacement preventing means and sealing means for the cables 4a and 4a 'of the present invention, any means may be employed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a through hole 5 is formed in a side wall 5k "of the connector housing 5j.
m "is provided, and each cable 4a, 4
a 'is inserted. Adhesive or the like is uniformly applied to the periphery of such a through-hole 5m ", and the cables 4a, 4a" are inserted.
a 'may be fixed to the side wall 5k "of the connector housing 5j, and a clearance between the through hole 5m" and the cables 4a, 4a' may be eliminated to further improve the sealing inside the connector.

In this case, the placement of the displacement prevention pieces 6 shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 may be omitted. If the placement of the displacement prevention pieces 6 is used together with the above-mentioned technique using the adhesive, Further, it is expected that a large displacement of the cables 4a, 4a 'will not occur.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 9, a mat seal 9 for improving the sealing property is provided so as to be locked to the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3. Inside the mat seal 9, a cable 4a and a drain wire 4a 'are inserted to form an insertion hole 9a. In this way, the cables 4a, 4a 'are drawn into the camera case 3 from outside through the mat seal 9.

The shape of the mat seal 9 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
Is a through hole 3 provided in the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3.
f so as to cover the through-hole 3f from the outside to the inside of the case 3 and the connector housing 5j.
In order to prevent such a mat seal 9 from falling out of the through hole 3f of the camera case 3, the mat seal 9 is formed as shown in FIG. A locking portion 9b for preventing the camera case 3 from coming off is provided on the accommodation room 3e side of the camera case 3.

Locking portion 9b provided on mat seal 9
Is fixed to the camera case 3 together with the effect of integral molding so as to be sandwiched between the inner surface of the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3 and the outer surface of the side wall 5k "of the connector housing 5j. The shape of 9b will be described in detail. A locking surface 9c, which is parallel to the inner surface of the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3 and is in close contact with the inner surface of the side wall 3d', forms a locking portion 9b of the mat seal 9. I have.

Also, the mat seal 9 is a separate product that is not integrally formed with the camera case 3, and the locking portion 9b of the mat seal 9 is
When inserted and locked in the through hole 3f of d ', the locking portion 9b of the mat seal 9 is engaged with the through hole 3f of the camera case 3.
In order to facilitate insertion into the camera case 3, the surface connecting the end surface of the mat seal 9 that is in contact with the side wall 5 k ″ of the connector housing 5 j and the locking surface 9 c of the mat seal 9 faces the inside of the camera case 3. And an inclined surface having a narrowing shape.

Although the mat seal 9 of the present invention is provided integrally with the camera case 3, the mat seal 9 is not integrally formed with the camera case 3 instead of the mat seal 9 thus formed. The mat seal 9 formed in a separate step may be applied to the mat seal 9 shown in FIG. Note that, in addition to the above-described shape, the locking portion 9b of the mat seal 9 may have, for example, a shape very similar to a tip portion of an arrowhead. The locking portion 9b may have any shape.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the mounting relation and the sealing relation between the case 3 such as the camera case 3, the sealing member 9 such as the mat seal 9, and the electric wires 4a and 4a 'such as the cables 4a and 4a'. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

A through hole 3f is provided in the side wall 3d 'of the case 3, and the sealing member 9 is attached to the through hole 3f corresponding to the shape of the through hole 3f of the case 3 in order to enhance the sealing performance. The sealing member 9 includes a mat seal 9, and the mat seal 9 connects the electric wires 4a and 4a 'such as the cables 4a and 4a' from the outside of the accessory module Z such as the camera module Z to the inside of the connector housing 5j. Further, it has an insertion hole 9a for making close contact with the electric wires 4a, 4a '.

By adopting such means, it is possible to prevent moisture, dust, dust and the like from entering the inside of the auxiliary module Z such as the camera module Z, so that the hermetic seal inside the auxiliary module Z can be prevented. And the auxiliary module Z
Can be eliminated.

The insertion holes 9a provided in the mat seal 9 are provided with electric wires 4a, 4a 'such as cables 4a, 4a'.
Or the diameter of the wire 4a, 4a 'is smaller than the diameter of the wire 4a, 4a', so that the outer circumferential surface of the wire 4a, 4a 'and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 9a are in close contact. Insertion hole 9a of mat seal 9 and electric wires 4a, 4a '
It is considered that an appropriate tightening force is generated between the mat seal 9 and the electric wires 4a and 4a '. Accordingly, foreign matter such as moisture, dust, and dust is removed from the peripheral portion of the mat seal 9 by the auxiliary module Z.
The auxiliary machine module Z can maintain stable performance for a long period of time without invading the case 3.

The method for manufacturing the mat seal 9 will be described. First, the camera case 3 is manufactured by an aluminum casting method. Alternatively, the camera case 3 is formed of a synthetic resin that can be injection-molded and has a thermoplastic property. Next, a synthetic polymer such as high-speed granular silicone is poured into a peripheral portion including the through hole 3f of the camera case 3, and then solidified into a predetermined shape to form the mat seal 9.

At this time, the cables 4a, 4a 'are
It is fixed to the through hole 5m ″ of the connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room 3e of the camera case 3, and thereafter,
The mat seal 9 may be integrally formed with the cables 4a and 4a '. On the other hand, the mat seal 9 may be formed such that the insertion hole 9a is formed in the mat seal 9 in advance, and then the cables 4a and 4a 'may be passed through the insertion hole 9a provided in the mat seal 9.

As long as the mat seal 9 is formed integrally with the case 3 such as the camera case 3, a high sealing property is maintained between the mat seal 9 and the case 3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Mat seal 9 corresponding to through hole 3f in side wall 3d '
Is integrally formed with the case 3, the inner wall surface of the through hole 3f (FIG. 2) provided in the case 3 and the upper surface 9 which constitutes the outer peripheral wall surface of the mat seal 9 corresponding to the through hole 3f.
d, the side surface 9e, and the boundary surface with the lower surface 9f (FIG. 9) are in a state of being in close contact with each other, and exhibit more excellent sealing performance.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the mat seal 9 is attached to the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3 and the side wall 5k "forming one end of the connector housing 5j.
Are integrally formed. Then, the cables 4a, 4a 'sealed with a mat seal 9 are directed from the side of the mounting port case 7 toward the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j.
Is inserted. Further, a through hole 3 f provided in the side wall 3 d ′ of the camera case 3 is sealed with a mat seal 9.

By providing the mat seal 9 on the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3 as described above, the cable 4a and the drain wire 4 extend from the outside to the inside of the camera case 3.
The wires such as a ′ can be inserted, and foreign matter such as moisture, dust, and dust can be prevented from entering the inside of the camera case 3.

As the material of the sealing member such as the packing D and the mat seal 9, for example, silicone rubber (PVMQ
Or VMQ), ethylene propylene rubber (abbreviated as EPDM or EPM), nitrile rubber (abbreviated as NBR), styrene butadiene rubber (SB
R), acrylic rubber (ACM or ANM)
Butyl rubber (abbreviated as IIR), urethane rubber (abbreviated as AU or EU), chloroprene rubber (abbreviated as CR), epichlorohydrin rubber (abbreviated as CHR or CHC), natural rubber (NR)
), Fluororubber (abbreviated as FKM), and the like. The sealing member used in the present invention may be a sealing member made of any material depending on the application such as a use site. For example, the sealing member may be made of metal other than the rubber material mentioned above, or may be an adhesive or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 9, the mounting case 7 is provided on the side wall 3d 'of the camera case 3. In addition, a cover 8 for the attachment port case is attached to the upper part of the attachment port case 7 corresponding to the attachment port case 7.

The mounting port case 7 and the mounting port case cover 8 are provided so as not to apply an excessive bending force to the wire harness 4 and to connect the cables 4a and 4a 'taken out of the tube 4d of the wire harness 4. Protects
The cables 4a and 4a 'taken out of the tube 4d of the wire harness 4 are provided so as to be housed and aligned. Further, the mounting opening case 7 and the mounting opening case cover 8 are provided to protect the mat seal 9 and further improve the sealing performance of the mat seal 9.

The attachment case 7 may be provided integrally with the camera case 3 or may be attached to the camera case 3 as a part separate from the camera case 3. In consideration of reducing the number of parts even a little, it is preferable that the camera case 3 and the mounting port case 7 are integrally formed.

The mounting case 7 is formed by a bottom wall 7a and side walls 7b and 7b 'surrounding the bottom wall 7a, and a housing chamber 7c is provided. A guide plate 7d for aligning and arranging the cables 4a, 4a 'in parallel is provided in the accommodation room 7c of the mounting port case 7.

As shown in FIG. 9, guide grooves 7e for correctly aligning and fixing the cables 4a, 4a 'are provided at equal intervals at about six places equal to the number of the cables 4a, 4a'. Is provided on the upper surface side. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, in order to prevent an excessive bending force from being applied to the wire harness 4, the guide portion 7 f of the wire harness 4 is provided in a direction extending along the wire harness 4 from the side wall 7 b ′. I have.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9,
A cover 8 for a mounting case is prepared to be fixed corresponding to the mounting case 7. FIG. 9 shows a mounting case 7 and a mounting case cover 8 shown in FIG.
1 is a sectional view taken along line PP of FIG. The cover 8 for the mounting opening case includes a top wall 8a and side walls 8b and 8 surrounding the top wall 8a.
The accommodation room 8c formed by b 'is provided.

A guide plate 8d provided with a guide groove 8e is provided on the cover 8 for the mounting case so as to correspond to the guide groove 7e provided on the guide plate 7d of the mounting case 7. More specifically, each of the cables 4a, 4a
A guide plate 8d for aligning a 'and arranging it in parallel,
It is provided in the accommodation room 8c of the cover 8 for the attachment port case.

A guide groove 8e for properly aligning and fixing the cables 4a and 4a 'is provided.
It is provided on the lower surface side of the guide plate 8d at the same number of six places as a 'at equal intervals. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, in order to prevent an excessive bending force from being applied to the wire harness 4, a guide portion 8f of the wire harness 4 is provided in a direction extending along the wire harness 4 from the side wall 8b '. I have.

Guide grooves 7 for fixing the cables 4a, 4a 'routed from the wire harness 4 to the mounting port case 7 and the corresponding mounting port case cover 8.
Since e and 8e are provided at equal intervals, as shown by the mounting direction S3 in FIG. 9, the mounting port case 7 is covered with the mounting port case cover 8 and fixed.
The cables 4a and 4a 'can be sandwiched and fixed by the guide groove 7e of the above and the guide groove 8e of the cover 8 for the mounting port case. Here, the guide plates 7d and 8d provided with such guide grooves 7e and 8e may be referred to as ribs.

Also, by attaching the cover 8 to the mounting case 7 and fixing the same, the guide portion 7f provided in the mounting case 7 and the guide provided in the mounting case cover 8 are provided. Together with the portion 8f, the wire harness 4 is protected from being subjected to excessive bending force.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting case 7 and the corresponding mounting case cover 8 are provided.
And guide portions 7f and 8 of the electric wire 4 such as the wire harness 4.
Since the wire harness 4 is provided, the wire harness 4 draws a sharp curve at the mounting portion of the camera case 3 of the wire harness 4 when arranging the wire harness 4 or handling the assembled camera module Z. The cables 4a, 4a 'are not bent and no excessive force is applied.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a part of the mat seal 9 is located outside the side wall 3 d ′ of the case 3 so as to fit in the accommodation room 7 c of the mounting case 7. 3 and is provided. Mat seal 9 protruding outside the side wall 3d 'of the case 3
The outer peripheral wall surface composed of a total of four surfaces including the upper surface 9d, the side surface 9e, etc.
And the mat seal 9.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 9, the mounting case 7 and the mounting case cover 8
The state sealed by is described. As shown in FIG. 9, the mat seal 9 includes an upper surface 9d, side surfaces 9e, 9e, and a lower surface 9f, corresponding to the shape of the rectangular through hole 3f provided in the case 3 when viewed from the electric wire 4 side. Four outer peripheral wall surfaces are formed, and thus the mat seal 9 is rectangular when viewed from the electric wire 4 side.

In the outer peripheral wall surface of the mat seal 9, the lower half portion of the sealing allowance, that is, the lower half portions of the side surfaces 9e and 9e of the mat seal 9 and the lower surface 9f are formed as a pair of the mounting port case 7. It is sealed by being closely attached to the inner surface of the side wall 7b and the inner surface of the bottom wall 7a. Further, of the outer peripheral wall surface of the mat seal 9, an upper half portion of the sealing allowance, that is, a portion of the upper surface 9 d of the mat seal 9 and a side surface 9 e,
The upper half portion 9e is sealed by being brought into close contact with the inner surface of the top wall 8a of the mounting opening case cover 8 and the inner surfaces of the pair of side walls 8b.

As also shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the mounting case 7 and the mounting case cover 8 are formed by a pair of locking portions 7g provided outside the side wall 7b of the mounting case 7. And a corresponding pair of engaging portions 8g provided outside the side wall 8b of the cover 8 for the mounting opening case. The engaging portion 7g having a protruding shape is fitted into the engaging portion 8g provided with the engaging window correspondingly, and the mounting port case 7 and the mounting port case cover 8 are fixed.

Mounting case 7 and mounting case cover 8
In order to prevent the formation of a gap in the joint portion of the mounting case and the like, and to enhance the sealing performance, each joining portion of the mounting port case 7 and the mounting port case cover 8 and the electric wire 4 such as the wire harness 4 and the mounting port case 7. A sealing member such as an adhesive may be interposed between the respective portions to be joined with the cover 8 for the mounting port case, so that no gap is present.

The mounting case cover 8 is made of synthetic resin by injection molding. A synthetic resin that can be injection-molded as in the present embodiment and has a thermoplastic property is excellent in mass productivity. But,
Not only the injection molding method but also other manufacturing methods may be used.
Further, in the present invention, the camera case 3 in which the mounting port case 7 is integrally formed is not limited to the mounting port case cover 8, and is made of, for example, a synthetic resin that can be injection-molded and has a thermoplastic property. It is preferable to form the molded article because it is excellent in mass productivity even if the molded article has a complicated shape.

Further, if the cover 8 is made of a synthetic resin, the molded body made of such a synthetic resin potentially has a proper restoring elastic force. When fitting the engaging portion 8g of the mounting case cover 8 into the engaging portion 7g of the mounting case 7 shown, the engaging portion 8g is easily elastically deformed and then easily engaged. The engaging portion 7g is fitted into the engaging window, and the mounting case 7 and the mounting case cover 8 can be quickly and easily fixed.

Examples of the synthetic resin capable of being injection-molded and having thermoplastic properties include polybutylene terephthalate (abbreviated as PBT) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (AB).
S), polyamide (abbreviated as PA), polypropylene (abbreviated as PP), and the like. Attachment case cover 8 used in an example of the present invention
Is made of, for example, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and is excellent in dimensional stability, strength stability, electrical characteristics, and the like. The material of the PBT is PBT-H01
And the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cables 4a and 4a 'to be pressed and connected are bundled by a tube 4d or the like to form a wire harness 4.
Is connected to a predetermined portion of the vehicle. Note that, in addition to the cable 4a and the drain wire 4a ', a dummy wire may be further provided on the wire harness 4 so that other electric circuits and the like can be connected as needed.

The wire harness 4 connects the camera case 3 and a non-waterproof connector 5r provided in the vehicle interior V. In addition, a terminal 5s is attached to one end of the drain wire 4a 'branched from a middle part of the wire harness 4, and the terminal 5s is attached to a frame of the vehicle body B with a screw 13c. Thus, the drain line 4a 'functions as a ground. In this way, the board 2 provided with the camera 1 is electrically connected to the wire harness 4, the non-waterproof connector 5r provided in the vehicle interior V, the drain wire 4a ', and the like.

Various electric circuits such as various bus bars, terminals, and electric wires for connection to each electric wiring are provided while being held by the board main body 2 'shown in FIG. The board 2 is a plate that holds such various electric circuits and has an insulating function to prevent an electrical contact failure between the various electric circuits. It may be called a substrate.

The molding material of the substrate 2 will be described. For example, a synthetic resin such as a thermosetting resin or a thermoplastic resin is excellent in moldability and can insulate various electric parts such as various bus bars or various terminals. It is preferable because it is possible. For example, any of the synthetic resins having low water absorption properties is preferable because of its excellent dimensional stability, mass productivity, stable electric performance, and the like.

The bus bar is made up of an electric circuit network in which a large number of electric contact pieces are formed by branching an electric circuit with a conductive metal plate, and is also called a bus bar. Examples of the bus bar include a bus bar body, a connector bus bar, a relay bus bar, a fuse bus bar, and a power bus bar. The bus bar for the fuse is also called a clamping type terminal or a tuning fork type terminal due to its shape. Further, relay terminals and the like may be attached to the various bus bars as needed.

Examples of the material of the press contact terminal 5e or the bus bar used in the present invention include a copper-based material such as bronze, brass, and copper alloy, and an aluminum alloy. As the press contact terminal 5e or the bus bar used in the present invention, any material may be used as long as it is a metal material having an energizing function or any other conductor that can conduct electricity well.

In order to improve the corrosion resistance, the above materials may be subjected to a surface protection treatment such as plating. However, if the performance can be sufficiently maintained under the condition usually used, it is preferable that such a surface protection treatment is omitted from the viewpoint of cost reduction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, screw fixing bodies 3a and 3a 'for mounting and fixing a camera module Y having a camera 1 and a substrate 2 are provided inside the camera case 3. It is provided at the four corners. A female screw hole 3b is provided in each of the screw fixing main bodies 3a, 3a '. One female screw hole 3b is provided in each of the screw fixing main bodies 3a and 3a 'provided in the camera case 3, and a total of four female screw holes 3b are provided.

Here, the positional relationship between the four female screw holes 3b will be described with reference to FIG.
When viewed from the side where the wire harness 4 is attached, the height of the screw fixing bodies 3a provided at the two front positions is higher than the height of the screw fixing bodies 3a 'provided at the two rear positions. It is provided in such a manner. Therefore, the positions of the female screw holes 3b of the screw fixing main body 3a provided at the two front positions are closer to the screw fixing main bodies 3 provided at the two rear positions.
It is provided at a position higher than the position of the female screw hole 3b of a '.

As can be seen from the camera module Y in which the substrate 2 is attached to the camera 1 shown in FIG. 1, when the camera 1 and the substrate 2 are overlaid and assembled, the screw fixing portion 1a of the camera 1 This is because the position of the substrate 2 with the screw fixing portion 2a is shifted with respect to the height direction of the camera case 3.

The camera body 1 'has two screw fixing portions 1a.
And two screw fixing portions 2a are also provided on the substrate main body 2 '. By assembling the camera 1 and the substrate 2, a total of four screw fixing portions 1a and 2a are provided in the camera module Y. Will be provided. However, even if the two are combined, the heights of the screw fixing portions 1a and 2a are not uniform, so that the heights of the screw fixing main bodies 3a and 3a 'of the camera case 3 are increased as shown in FIG. They correspond to the screw fixing portions 1a and 2a of the camera module Y without being aligned.

If the camera case 3 is made of an aluminum alloy such as aluminum die cast as in the embodiment shown in the present invention, it is lightweight and has mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, workability, productivity, etc. Preferred in many respects. Since the CCD camera mounted on the outside of the automobile is exposed to rain and wind, it is important to have corrosion resistance, and a material having a small specific gravity is also preferable in order to contribute to the weight reduction of the automobile, and is used in such an application. As a material of the camera case 3, it is preferable to use an aluminum alloy or a synthetic resin that can be injection-molded and has a thermoplastic property because of excellent mass productivity.

With respect to the method of manufacturing the auxiliary module Z such as the camera module Z, an example of an assembling procedure and an example of an assembling method of the camera module Z will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The terminals such as the various press-connecting terminals 5e and the various bus bars are manufactured from a metal terminal fitting material into a predetermined shape through punching and bending. on the other hand,
The substrate 2 is formed from a thermosetting resin or the like, and the connector housing 5b is injection-molded from a thermoplastic resin or the like. Then, various electrical components such as a connector housing 5b provided with various bus bars and press-contact terminals 5e are attached to the board 2.

A camera 1 having a lens 1c, a lens peripheral portion 1d, a camera body 1 'and the like shown in FIG. 1 is prepared in advance. As shown in FIG.
The camera module Y is prepared in advance by assembling the press-connecting connector 5a provided with the press-connecting terminals 5e and the board 2 on which various other electric circuits are mounted at predetermined positions.

On the other hand, the camera case 3 in which the connector housing 5j and the mounting case 7 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are integrally formed, the mounting case cover 8 shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, FIGS. The displacement prevention piece 6 shown in FIG. 8 is molded in advance with a synthetic resin that can be injection-molded and that has a thermoplastic property. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, the displacement preventing piece 6 is attached to a predetermined position in the connector housing 5j, or is integrally formed with the same material as the connector housing 5j.

Further, regarding the wire harness 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cable 4a and the drain wire 4a '
The cable 4a and the drain wire 4a 'are previously taken out of the tube 4d by cutting the tube 4d or the like so that the tube 4d comes out of the tube 4d by a predetermined length.

A through-hole 5 formed in a side wall 5k ″ of a connector housing 5j provided in the camera case 3
6, the cables 4a and 4a 'are inserted through the cable 4a, and as shown in FIG. 6, the cables 4a are provided on the mounting portion 5n provided in the accommodation room 5m of the connector housing 5j. In between, for each cable,
At least one or more misalignment preventing pieces 6 are provided adjacent to the cable 4 so that the cable 4 can be connected at the time of press-connecting.
A large displacement of a is prevented.

A cable 4a inserted into a through hole 5m "provided in a side wall 5k" of the connector housing 5j,
In order to securely fix the 4a 'to the side wall 5k ", an adhesive is uniformly applied to the vicinity of the periphery of the through hole 5m" through which the cables 4a and 4a' are passed, as necessary. hand,
The cables 4a, 4a 'are fixed to the side wall 5k ". The through hole 5 provided in the side wall 5k" of the connector housing 5j.
Since a slight gap between the inner peripheral surface of the m ″ and the outer peripheral surfaces of the cables 4a and 4a ′ is sealed with the uniformly applied adhesive, the sealing performance inside the connector is further improved. Be improved.

At the same time, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 9, the cables 4a and 4a 'are aligned and mounted in guide grooves 7e provided in the guide plate 7d of the mounting case 7. . Next, a synthetic polymer such as high-speed granular silicone is poured into a portion of the through hole 3f of the camera case 3, and then solidified into a predetermined shape to form the mat seal 9. Thereafter, if necessary, the mat seal 9 is subjected to a heat treatment, that is, a vulcanization treatment for exerting rubber elasticity.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
An annular packing D, which is one of the sealing members D, is mounted in an annular groove G formed in the vicinity of the periphery of the opening 5m 'of the connector housing 5j provided in the accommodation room of the camera case. Here, in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the cable 4 a, the misalignment preventing piece 6, and the like are omitted for the sake of convenience.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate 2 having the camera 1 and the press-connecting connector 5a, that is, the camera module Y is accommodated in the camera case 3 and attached. At the same time as this work, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the press contact blade 5f of the press contact terminal 5e provided on the press connector 5a is
Cables 4a, 4 provided in connector housing 5j
a 'is cut off the insulating coating 4c to come into contact with the conductor 4b,
The pressure connection is performed inside the camera module Z.

At this time, the press-contact slit 5i of the press-contact terminal 5e of the press-connect connector 5a provided on the substrate 2 is formed on the support 5n ″ of the mounting portion 5n provided on the bottom wall 5k of the connector housing 5j of the camera case 3. Are properly connected by being guided, etc. In this manner, the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a provided on the substrate 2 and the connector housing 5j provided on the camera case 3. The opening 5m 'and the upper surface 5j' around the opening 5m 'together form the connector 5.

Then, the connector housing 5
The crushing allowance L of the packing D provided in the groove G of j is crushed by the lower surface 5c 'of the top wall 5c of the press-connecting connector 5a, and a reliable sealing operation is performed. Thus, the substrate 2
And the camera case 3 are electrically connected via the connector 5 and the connector 5 is sealed.

More specifically, by performing press-connecting using the press-connecting terminals 5e, it is possible to more efficiently perform the assembling work and the electrical connection simultaneously in the manufacturing process. A male-female connector or the like may be used. As for the pressure connection using the pressure terminal 5e, as described above, the peeling of the insulating cover 4c and the connection of the conductor 4b can be performed simultaneously, and thus such a connection method is efficient. As in the prior art, the conductor inside the electric wire is exposed by removing the insulating covering of the cable, and then the conductor and the crimp terminal are connected, and then, the work of connecting predetermined crimp terminals to be connected to each other is saved. Can be achieved.

By assembling the camera module Z in such a procedure, the substrate 2 on which the camera 1 is mounted is fitted into the camera case 3 so as to be electrically connected. Therefore, FIGS.
As in the prior art shown in FIG. 13, a connector housing 5q having terminals is attached to cables 4a and 4a ', and this is passed through a through hole 3f of a camera case 3. The camera module Z can be assembled without connecting the connector housing 2c provided on the 2 'and electrically connecting the board 2 and the wire harness 4. In this manner, since the assembly operation can be simplified as compared with the conventional assembly operation, the assembly operation can be simplified and speeded up, and the work efficiency can be improved.

Further, it is possible to solve the problem that has been concerned when assembling the conventional camera module Z. That is, when the board 2 on which the camera 1 is mounted is attached to the camera case 3 and assembled, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of troubles such as the cables 4a and 4a 'being sandwiched between the board 2 and the camera case 3. Become. In the present invention, a substrate 2 on which a camera 1 is mounted;
Since the camera case 3 is press-connected to the camera case 3 by the press-connecting connector 5a, the above-described problem of the cables 4a and 4a 'being jammed does not occur.

More specifically, when the camera module Y is mounted on the camera case 3 as in the prior art shown in FIG. 12, the extra length of the cables 4a and 4a ' In the present invention, even if the camera module Y is mounted on the camera case 3 and the cables 4a and 4a 'protrude, the cables 4a and 4a' do not occur. .

Therefore, at the time of assembling the board 2 and the camera case 3, the operator does not need to carefully work so that the cables 4a and 4a 'are not pinched between the board 2 and the camera case 3. Also, in the automatic assembling machine, the automatic assembling machine is stopped by sandwiching the cables 4a and 4a ',
This does not prevent a ′ from being scratched and lowering the yield of the camera module Z in the manufacturing process.

After the camera module Y shown in FIG. 1 is housed in the camera case 3 as shown in the mounting direction S1,
Four screws 13a are passed through screw insertion holes 1b, 2b provided in each of the screw fixing portions 1a, 2a. And a screw fixing main body 3a provided at each of the four corners of the camera case 3,
Each screw 13a is screwed into the female screw hole 3b of 3a 'using a screwing means or the like. It is presumed that the crimping connection is performed more reliably at this time. At this time, a case cover (not shown) for protecting the accessory 1 such as the camera 1 may be attached to the case 3 such as the camera case 3 in order to further improve the sealing performance.

In addition to the above-mentioned assembling work, as shown in FIG. 9, a cover 8 for the mounting port case is also mounted on the mounting port case 7, and a guide groove 7e provided on a guide plate 7d of the mounting port case 7. The cables 4a and 4a 'are securely fixed by the guide groove 8e provided on the guide plate 8d of the mounting case cover 8. The camera module Z is assembled in such a procedure.

As described above, any additional components such as a case cover may be attached to the accessory module of the present invention as necessary. However, depending on the part where the accessory is used or the part to be attached, for example,
Additional components such as a case cover may be omitted. By doing so, it is possible to provide an accessory module that is reduced in size and weight by minimizing the number of parts, and that is reduced in price accordingly.

As the accessory module Z of the present invention, in addition to the camera module Z described above, the present invention can be applied to an accessory module Z used for, for example, an instrument panel of an automobile and its peripheral portion. , It can be developed as a module in every place.

Among such various mounting parts, as described above, the auxiliary equipment module Z, which comprises the camera module Z using the camera 1 equipped with a CCD mounted on an automobile as the auxiliary equipment 1, is used. It is preferred that By applying the accessory module Z of the present invention to the camera module Z mounted on an automobile as described above,
The number of peripheral components of the camera module Z can be reduced, and the size and weight of the camera module Z to be mounted on an automobile can be reduced, and the price associated therewith can be reduced.

Also, a camera 1 attached to a car,
The assembly structure of the substrate 2 and the camera case 3 is simplified. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 to 8, if the press contact terminal 5 e is used, the wire harness 4 on which the clamp 10 with the O-ring 11 shown in FIG.
Alternatively, as in the conventional camera module Z shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, crimping terminals such as terminals 5p are attached to the cables 4a and 4a ', and a connector housing 5q is further assembled thereto. As shown in 12, it is not necessary to use a structure in which the connector is formed by connecting to the connector housing 5q for the board 2.

In the present invention, the press-connecting terminal 5e provided in the press-connecting connector 5a shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, pressure connection is performed, and thus the camera 1 is electrically connected to the wire harness 4, so that inspection, disassembly, and repair can be easily performed. It is possible to provide the camera module suitable for the above.

Furthermore, the camera module of the present invention is mainly used for automobiles such as passenger cars and large cars such as buses, and is used for a blind spot at the front of the car or a section that can secure a view behind the car. It is considered that it is convenient and preferable when driving an automobile if it is attached to a part that is difficult to confirm from inside the room during driving and is used to assist in confirming blind spots during driving.

For example, when the vehicle is retracted, the in-vehicle CCD camera attached to the outer portion around the rear of the vehicle may accidentally hit another object, and the CCD camera must be inspected and repaired. Even if it is lost, since the in-vehicle CCD camera to which the present invention is applied can be easily disassembled, it is possible to easily disassemble and repair the defective CCD camera and attach it to the automobile again. Therefore, the present invention is preferably used as a CCD camera for confirming the field of view at an outer portion around the rear of the vehicle.

As in the above-described example, when a malfunction such as a failure occurs in the CCD camera mounted on the vehicle or in the vicinity thereof, it is necessary to remove and inspect the CCD camera and perform disassembly and repair. However, a camera module Z that can be easily attached and detached as in the present invention is preferable because of its excellent maintenance. Also,
Since the camera module Z is easily disassembled,
This makes it easier to reuse the camera module Z as a recycle at the time of disposal, and it can be said that the camera module Z has also responded to global environmental problems relating to recent industrial waste.

[0220]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the board and the case to which the auxiliary equipment is attached are modularized, and the number of these peripheral parts can be reduced. Therefore, the size and weight can be reduced, and the assembly structure can be simplified. Then, by attaching the board provided with the auxiliary equipment to the case, it is possible to make an electrical connection at the same time.

Further, since the auxiliary equipment module is provided with a sealing member for maintaining the internal sealing performance, there is no need to use a complicated sealing structure to greatly increase the number of parts. Therefore, even in the case of an auxiliary machine module whose assembly structure is simplified, it is possible to maintain a good seal inside the auxiliary machine module. In this way, the inside of the accessory module is protected so as to prevent intrusion of moisture, dust, dust and the like from the outside, so that it is possible to prevent failure of the accessory module from occurring.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the board is attached to the case, so that the inside of the connector housing is sealed by the packing provided at a predetermined portion. Therefore, the inside of the connector can be protected from moisture, dust, dust, etc., and can maintain high sealing performance, and can eliminate the cause of the failure of the accessory module.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by applying the accessory module of the present invention to a camera module mounted on an automobile, water infiltration into the camera module, which has conventionally been regarded as a problem, is prevented. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of the problem that the lens is fogged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an accessory module according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a top view of the case shown in FIG. 1 and connection of electric wires.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which a sealing member is attached to an opening of a connector housing.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing a state where a sealing member is attached to an opening of the connector housing shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the press-connecting connector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory view when the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal and the electric wire shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 is started.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a state where the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal and the electric wire shown in FIG. 6 has been started.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a state where the press-connecting between the press-connecting terminal and the electric wire shown in FIG. 7 is completed.

9 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting port case and the mounting port case cover shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of a wire harness on which a clamp provided with an O-ring is mounted.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view when assembling a conventional camera module.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state of a trouble that occurs when the camera module is assembled to a camera case.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing an RR enlarged cross-sectional view of FIGS. 11 and 12 and a connection of a wire harness.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Auxiliary equipment (camera) 1 'Camera main body 1a, 2a Screw fixing part 1b, 2b Screw insertion hole 1c Lens 1d Lens peripheral part 1e Positioning hole 2 Substrate 2' Substrate main body 2c Connector housing 3 Case (camera case) 3a, 3a ′ Fixing portion 3b female screw hole 3c bottom wall 3d, 3d ′ side wall 3e accommodation chamber 3f through hole 4 electric wire (wire harness) 4a electric wire (cable) 4a ′ electric wire (drain wire, cable) 4b electric wire (conductor) 4b ′ minute gap 4c Insulation coating 4d Tube 5 Connector 5a Press-fit connector 5b, 5j, 5q Connector housing 5c Top wall 5c 'Lower surface 5d Guide 5e Terminal (press-contact terminal) 5e' Connection 5f Press-contact blade 5f 'Blade 5g Inclined portion 5h End 5i Press-contact slit 5j 'Upper surface 5j "Thickening portion 5k Bottom wall 5k', 5k" Side wall 5m Housing 5m 'Opening 5m "Through Hole 5n Placement 5n' Root 5n" Support 5nx Support 5p Terminal 5r Non-Waterproof Connector 5s Terminal 6 Displacement Prevention Piece 6a Root 6b Support 6c Curved Part 6d Top Slope 6e Curved inward surface 6f Curved outer surface 6g One end surface 6h Other end surface 6i Side surface 6j Tip 6k Gap amount 7 Mounting port case 7a Bottom wall 7b, 7b ', 8b, 8b' Side wall 7c, 8c Storage chamber 7d, 8d Guide plate 7e , 8e Guide groove 7f, 8f Guide portion 7g Locking portion 8 Cover for case of mounting opening 8a Top wall 8g Engaging portion 9 Sealing member (mat seal) 9a Insertion hole 9b Locking portion 9c Locking surface 9d Upper surface 9e Side surface 9f Bottom surface 10 Clamp 10a Threaded part 10b Hex head 10c Flange part 10d Insertion hole 11 O-ring 12 Potting treatment 13 a, 13b, 13c Screw B Car body D Sealing member (packing) D1 Bend portion Da Cross section Dd Diameter G groove (annular groove) G1 Inner side wall surface G2 Outer side wall surface G3 Bottom wall surface G4 Bend portion Ga cross section Gd Depth Gw Width L Depressing allowance S1 to S3 Mounting direction V In-vehicle Y, Z Auxiliary equipment module (camera module)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4E360 AA02 AB33 EA03 EA24 GA23 GA29 GB06 5E087 EE12 FF01 LL04 LL12 QQ06 RR12 RR13

Claims (3)

[Claims] An accessory module comprising: an accessory; a board attached to the accessory and having a terminal; and a case to which the board is attached. An auxiliary module, wherein the terminal and the connection portion in the case are electrically connected to each other as a connector, and a sealing member for maintaining the hermeticity inside the case is provided. Waterproof structure. 2. The board according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is provided on an opening side of a connector housing provided inside the accessory module, the sealing member includes a packing, and the board is attached to the case. 2. The connector as defined in claim 1, wherein the connector is formed by combining the press-connecting connector provided in the connector and the opening of the connector housing, and the connector is hermetically sealed by the packing.
The waterproof structure of the accessory module described in the above. 3. The waterproof structure for an auxiliary module according to claim 1, wherein a camera module is formed by using a camera mounted on an automobile as the auxiliary machine.