JP2002289292A - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a waterproof connector having waterproof performance that can withstand long-term use without affecting terminal insertability. SOLUTION: A waterproof plug 60 is disposed in a waterproof plug accommodating chamber 25 provided in a connector housing 20, and an electric wire 30 and the connector housing are engaged by engagement between the connector housing 20 and a rear holder 70 mounted on the connector housing. 20 is a waterproof connector for waterproofing between 20 and
The waterproof plug 60 includes a first seal portion 61 having a cylindrical shape, a second seal portion 62 having a skirt shape, and an electric wire drawing hole 63, and the connector housing 20 has a rib housing for housing the second seal portion 62. A groove 26 is provided, and the rear holder is brought into close contact with an outer peripheral lip portion 64 of the first seal portion 61 to provide a waterproof function. And a pressure contact portion 76 that exerts a waterproof function by being pressed against the cylindrical portion 72.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connector which exerts a waterproof function by pressing a waterproof plug against a connector housing by a rear holder mounted on the connector housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A waterproof connector of this type is disclosed in
The waterproof connector proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 01-15205 is provided with a terminal accommodating chamber and a rubber stopper accommodating chamber for each terminal of each electric wire, and a rubber stopper is press-fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber, whereby airtightness between each electric wire and the connector housing is provided. To achieve waterproofing in private rooms,
Further, the rubber plugs are integrated into one to form an integrated rubber plug, thereby improving the assembling workability.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned waterproof connector, the rubber stopper shrinks due to aging of the rubber stopper due to long-term use, and a gap is formed between each terminal accommodating chamber and the rubber stopper to provide waterproof performance. Decrease.

Therefore, as a countermeasure against the decrease in waterproof performance due to the contraction of the rubber plug, the cylindrical rubber plug is lengthened in the engagement direction of the rear holder or the cylindrical portion of the rubber plug is made thicker so that the rubber plug can be crushed. Although it is conceivable to increase airtightness and maintain airtightness, this method has an effect on terminal insertability, making it impossible to insert terminals in the worst case, and using rubber plugs during connector connection work. And the waterproof performance is deteriorated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector having waterproof performance that can withstand long-term use without affecting the terminal insertability.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a waterproof plug is provided in a waterproof plug accommodating chamber provided in a connector housing, and the electric wire and the connector housing are connected to each other by engaging the connector housing with a rear holder attached to the connector housing. Wherein the waterproof plug includes a first seal portion having a cylindrical shape, a second seal portion having a skirt shape, and an electric wire drawing hole, and the connector housing has the second seal portion. The rear holder is in close contact with the outer peripheral lip of the first seal part to provide a waterproof function and the second seal part on the inner wall of the rib accommodation groove. The waterproof connector is characterized in that it has a tubular portion including a press contact portion that exerts a waterproof function when pressed.

In this waterproof connector, by providing the skirt-shaped second seal portion on the waterproof plug, a crushing margin is added in the insertion direction of the rear holder, and the rear holder can be connected to the connector housing more than the shrinkage of the waterproof plug due to aging. The airtightness can be maintained by increasing the squeeze allowance of the waterproof plug when the waterproof plug is attached to the device, thereby preventing water from being flooded even when used for a long time.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waterproof connector according to the first aspect, wherein the second seal portion has a lip portion in close contact with an inner wall of the rib accommodating groove. That is the gist.

In this waterproof connector, by providing the lip portion on the second seal portion, the degree of adhesion between the waterproof plug and the connector housing when the rear holder is mounted on the connector housing is improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show one embodiment of a waterproof connector according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a waterproof connector in which a terminal is inserted into a connector housing 20 and a rear holder is in a fully locked state. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the waterproof connector with the rear holder temporarily locked, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a main part of the waterproof connector with the rear holder temporarily locked.

FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view of a waterproof plug used in the present embodiment.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show one connector housing 20 of a waterproof connector composed of a pair of connector housings. The terminals 31 of the wire terminals are connected to each other by being connected to a mating connector housing (not shown). Is electrically coupled.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the waterproof connector 10 of this embodiment includes a connector housing 20 including an inner 20a and an outer 20b, and is fitted into a waterproof plug accommodating chamber 25 provided in the inner 20a. A waterproof plug 60, a rear holder 70 that engages with the inner 20a to bring the waterproof plug 60 into close contact with the inner 20a, and a hermetic seal between the inner connector 20a and the mating connector housing mounted on the inner 20a. It comprises a packing 34 to be held and a spacer 50 mounted on the inner 20a to fix the packing 34.

The inner 20a has an insertion slot 21 for inserting a mating connector housing (not shown),
Wire drawing hole 2 for inserting wire 30 provided with wire 1
2, a claw 23 for engaging the mating connector housing and the connector housing 20; a cylindrical portion 24 having a packing 34 for sealing a mating surface of the mating connector housing and the connector housing 20; , A waterproof plug housing chamber 25 for housing the rear holder 70, and a rib housing groove 26.

The waterproof plug 60 has a cylindrical first seal portion 61, a skirt-shaped second seal portion 62, an electric wire lead-out hole 63, and an outer peripheral surface provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first seal portion 61. A lip portion 64, an inner peripheral lip portion 65 provided on an inner peripheral surface of the first seal portion, an end surface 66 of the first seal portion 61, and a rib portion 67 which is a skirt portion of the second seal portion 62. And a lip portion 68 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rib portion 67 and an end surface 69 of the rib portion 67. The detailed shape of the waterproof plug 60 is shown in FIG.

The rear holder 70 includes a main body portion 71 which engages with the inner 20a at a locking portion (not shown),
0, a cylindrical portion 72 surrounding the first seal portion 61, an electric wire lead-out hole 73, a bottom portion 74 of the cylindrical portion 72, and a waterproof plug 60.
An outer peripheral contact portion 75 that presses and adheres to the outer peripheral lip portion 64;
A press contact portion 76 of the cylindrical portion 72 and a seal portion housing chamber 77 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inner diameter of the seal portion accommodating chamber 77 is made smaller than the diameter of the first seal portion 61, and the first portion of the waterproof plug 60 made of an elastic material such as synthetic rubber or elastomer. By elastically deforming the seal portion 61 of FIG. 3 and bringing the outer peripheral contact portion 75 of the rear holder 70 into close contact with the outer peripheral lip portion 64 of the waterproof plug 60, a waterproof function is exhibited. Similarly, the width of the rib accommodating groove 26 is made smaller than the thickness of the rib 67 of the waterproof plug, so that the rib 67 is elastically deformed and brought into close contact with the rib accommodating groove 26 to exert a waterproof function. .

Further, by engaging the rear holder 70 with the inner 20a, the pressure contact portion 76 of the rear holder 70 is brought into close contact with the second seal portion 62 of the waterproof plug 60, and
0 and the waterproof plug 60, and the end face 6 of the rib 67.
The airtightness between the inner 20a and the waterproof plug 60 is enhanced by bringing the rib 9 into close contact with the rib housing groove 26. Further, by adding a rib portion 67 to the second seal portion 62, the rear holder 7
At the time of engagement of 0, the crushing allowance of the second seal portion can be increased, so that even when the waterproof connector is used for a long period of time, the contraction of the waterproof plug 60 is minimized, and the deterioration of the waterproof performance is suppressed. Becomes possible.

The embodiments described above are described for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. Therefore, each element shown in the above-described embodiment is intended to include all design choices belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the present embodiment, a plurality of electric wires are arranged in one row. However, this electric wire row is overlapped in two or three stages to accommodate more electric wires in one connector. Is also possible. Further, in the present embodiment, the skirt-shaped second seal portion 62 is provided at the end of the first seal portion 61, but may be provided near the center of the first seal portion 61. Absent.

That is, by engaging the rear holder 70 with the inner 20a, the skirt-shaped second seal portion 62 is formed.
However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as it is designed so as to be in close contact with the inner 20a and the rear holder 70 and to maintain airtightness.

In this embodiment, one connector housing of the waterproof connector is shown. However, the same waterproof plug is provided in the mating connector housing so that the original waterproof function is exhibited.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing the skirt-shaped second seal portion on the waterproof plug, the airtightness of the waterproof connector can be improved without affecting the fitting operation of the connector housing. By increasing the amount of crushing of the waterproof plug when the rear holder is locked, the airtightness is maintained even for long-term use, and the waterproof performance is exhibited by increasing the amount of shrinkage of the waterproof plug due to aging over the aging. It has the effect that it can be done.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, by providing the rib portion in the skirt-shaped second seal portion, the degree of close contact with the inner wall of the rib accommodating groove is improved. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a principal part of a waterproof connector in which a rear holder is in a fully locked state, showing one embodiment of a waterproof connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a rear holder is in a temporarily locked state.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a main part of the waterproof connector with the rear holder in a temporarily locked state, showing one embodiment of the waterproof connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view of a waterproof plug used in the present embodiment, showing one embodiment of the waterproof connector according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Waterproof connector 20 Connector housing 25 Waterproof plug accommodation room 26 Rib accommodation groove 30 Electric wire 60 Waterproof plug 61 First seal part 62 Second seal part 63 Wire lead-out hole 64 Outer lip part 68 Lip part 70 Rear holder 72 Tube part 75 Outer perimeter Close contact part 76 Pressure contact part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A waterproof plug is provided in a waterproof plug accommodating chamber provided in a connector housing.
A waterproof connector for waterproofing between an electric wire and the connector housing by engagement with a rear holder mounted on the connector housing, wherein the waterproof plug has a cylindrical first seal portion and a skirt-shaped first seal portion. 2, the connector housing includes a rib accommodating groove for accommodating the second seal portion, and the rear holder is in close contact with an outer peripheral lip portion of the first seal portion. A cylindrical portion comprising: an outer peripheral contact portion that exhibits a waterproof function by being in contact therewith; and a press contact portion that exhibits a waterproof function by pressing the second seal portion against the inner wall of the rib accommodating groove. Waterproof connector. 2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein:
A waterproof connector, characterized in that the second seal portion has a lip portion which comes into close contact with the inner wall of the rib accommodating groove.